


Picking Up the Pieces

by ArtemisLiCa



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-10-01
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2017-10-12 08:41:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 36,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisLiCa/pseuds/ArtemisLiCa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry has finished his education at Hogwarts and Voldemort is dead, but Harry's finding he doesn't have much to celebrate. Betrayed by his best friends and ignored by the world he saved, Harry struggles to build a life for himself.  Only, maybe things aren't so bad after all. Harry makes new friends and discovers love comes in an unexpected package.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Party

            Harry sat alone at a table, staring dejectedly at the tabletop. He sighed and looked up. The party was pathetic. There weren’t that many people in attendance, there was no food, the drinks sucked, the music was provided by a wizard radio, and…it was all Harry’s fault. He had to admit, though, that the people who showed up had really been great about it; especially when they realized why the party sucked.

            Harry sighed again and returned his gaze to the table. He jerked his head up when two others joined him at his table. He blinked in surprise at the sight of Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy sitting across from him.

            They looked at him calmly. While still unmistakably arrogant, neither man had the cold mask on that they each had worn so well before Harry had finished his education at Hogwarts and defeated Voldemort. It had only been six months since Harry had graduated, merely three since he had defeated Voldemort, and Harry was quite surprised at the changes in these two men in such a short amount of time.

            Harry looked questioningly between them.

            “We decided to drop by the…” Severus began.

            “…alternate event you were invited to and…” Lucius continued.

            “…while we were there, we found several cases of excellent wine and champagne just going to waste.”

            “We thought it such a shame to let them just sit there, unappreciated.”

            “So, we brought them back with us. We knew they would be enjoyed here.”

            Harry blinked as the two men did a very good impression of a Slytherin version of the Weasley twins. Harry gave them a small smile.

            Severus and Lucius were careful to keep from giving away just how much Harry’s smile affected them. His big green eyes, no longer hidden by glasses after Severus had corrected his vision so that he would not be hindered by them in the final battle, sparkled with amusement and happiness. His smile was warm and sweet.

            “Well, that was very thoughtful of you,” Harry said. The two older men smirked at him, causing him to smile again. Before he could continue, he was interrupted by Draco.

            “Well, I am glad to see you have finished moping. You were really sucking the life right out of the party, Harry,” Draco said.

            Harry laughed out loud. “Well let’s see what we can do to get it back on track then.” Harry stood and grabbed Draco’s hand. “Let’s dance.”

            Draco looked a bit panicked as Harry led him to the dance floor. Severus and Lucius glared after them. Though neither wanted to admit it, even to themselves, they were furious and more than a little jealous to see Draco so easily capture Harry’s attention.

            On the dance floor, Harry said, “I don’t really know how to dance, so you are going to have to lead.”

            Draco glared. “I am not dancing with you if you don’t even know how to dance!”

            Harry smiled. “Well, if you don’t…I’m going to kiss you. Right here in front of everyone.”

            Draco’s eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t.”

            Harry just smiled. Draco glared and they both positioned themselves and then they began dancing to the slow tune playing.

            At the table, Severus and Lucius continued to glare. As they watched the two younger men dance, Severus said, “Well, I suppose it is to be expected. They are of a similar age and they have much in common.” He took a sip of his drink, one of the stolen bottles of wine.

            Lucius turned his glare to his friend. “That does not mean they will be interested in each other. I am certain if either of us made an effort we could get Harry for our own.”

            Severus took another sip. “True. Which brings up another problem, Lucius. We both want him and I, for one, will not step aside for you.”

            Lucius took a sip of his own drink. “Well, perhaps it is time for us to learn to…share.”

            Severus raised an eyebrow. “Share? We are both very possessive men, Lucius, and from what you have told me I am not the only one with a more than passing interest in him.”

            Lucius inclined his head. “You are correct. Neither of us are looking for a one night stand. Or even merely sex. However, the only alternative to sharing that I can see that will not ruin our friendship…” Lucius gestured towards the dance floor. “Is for us both to stand aside and let another have him.”

            Severus glared in the direction Lucius had gestured before turning back to his friend. “Even if we managed to learn to share, what makes you think he would be willing to be shared? Or what if he should only prefer one of us?”

            Lucius sipped his drink. “The boy is a Gryffindor. We will have to tell him outright that we would like to share. I also suggest we work together. If we can get him into bed and show him how good we can make it for him, we may at least have a chance.”

            “For an affair perhaps. But I thought we agreed we both wanted more.”

            Lucius rolled his eyes. “As I said, the boy is a Gryffindor. In the morning we will make it clear we are looking for more than a simple affair and ask him to give us a chance. We will cite the previous night as incentive.”

            Severus looked thoughtful as he glanced over at Harry.

            Harry, for his part, was quite enjoying himself. Draco was an excellent dancer and he was more than able to make up for Harry’s mistakes. As the song ended, Harry grinned at Draco.

            “Thank you for the dance, Draco.”

            Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, if you never practice how can you expect to get any better?”

            Harry gave him a mischievous grin. “You’re absolutely right.”

            Draco looked a bit alarmed, but led Harry off the dance floor.

            As they reached the edge of the dance floor, Harry turned to Theodore Nott, who was standing there chatting with Blaise Zabini. “Theo, will you dance with me?”

            Theo looked shocked, but he agreed. Harry took to the dance floor again.

            Harry enjoyed several dances with various Slytherins after that. Actually, as Harry was the only one present who was not a Slytherin, unless he wanted to dance with himself (which he most certainly did not want) all of his dance partners would be Slytherins.

            He danced with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle and Blaise Zabini and several other male Slytherins. At one point, Pansy Parkinson noticed and walked up to Harry after one of his dances.

            “Hey! What about us, Harry? Why are you leaving us girls out?”

            Harry smiled. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind dancing with any of you lovely ladies. However, I am not a very accomplished dancer. So, if we danced I’m afraid I would have to ask you to lead.”

            Pansy pouted. “Well, I’m not going to lead.”

            “I don’t mind leading. Dance with me, Harry?” asked Millicent Bulstrode.

            Harry smiled. “I’d love to.”

            Millicent led Harry to the dance floor and they began dancing. She smiled.

            “You know, Harry. I rather think I like dancing with you. It’s a nice change to be the one in charge for a bit.”

            Harry laughed and they continued dancing.

            Harry danced with many of the people present. He even danced with both Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape…several times each.

            Despite the atrocious beginning, the party had turned into quite an enjoyable affair. The stolen drinks were, indeed, appreciated and most certainly did not go to waste. Once Harry began to enjoy himself, he noticed that many of the others began laughing and the chatter in the room was no longer the subdued voices you might hear at a funeral, but was more like the kind of chatter you would expect at a party.

            Surprisingly, the party ended on a pleasant note for nearly all involved.


	2. The Morning After

            Harry woke with a smile on his face. He was warm and he really did not want to move, much less get up. Unfortunately, his bladder was quite insistent. He sighed and opened his eyes. As the room came into focus, he gasped.

            He was in bed, naked, with a very naked Lucius Malfoy on one side and an equally naked Severus Snape on the other. Harry held his breath. They were both holding on to him, pressing close. Severus had one arm thrown over Harry’s stomach and a leg pinning one of Harry’s legs to the bed. Lucius had one of his arms across Harry’s chest and his ankle over Harry’s, also pinning him down. Harry himself had an arm wrapped around each man, holding onto their shoulders.

            Harry fought the urge to lift his hands and play with the long hair both men possessed. Instead, he wiggled around and finally managed to get out of the bed without waking either man. Harry turned and looked at the space where he had lain. He shook his head and went to the bathroom.

            When Harry returned, he saw that the two older men had moved together in his absence. He smiled sadly. It was a rather apt picture. They had each other and there was no room for him. Harry knew the two older men had their own lives and he knew just how close they were to each other. He figured they would be happy together.

            Harry turned and found his clothes. He quickly and quietly dressed and then he left, taking care to close the bedroom door behind him very softly.

            As Harry wandered down the hallway, he saw Blaise Zabini coming out of Draco’s room, just as stealthily. Blaise froze as he looked up and caught sight of Harry. Harry just gave him a sad smile and gestured for Blaise to walk with him. Blaise gave one last look at the door at his back and then nodded.

            They silently walked down the hall to the stairs, down the stairs, and out the door of Malfoy Manor. They still said nothing as they walked down the gravel drive and then through the gates. After the gates closed behind them they moved further away until they were outside the anti-Apparition wards.

            Then they turned and looked at each other. After a few moments of silence, Blaise turned to look at Malfoy Manor, just visible through the trees. “I’m not used to wanting something I can’t have.”

            Harry followed his gaze and smiled sadly. “I am. There’s always been something I wanted that I could never have. Though I have found, it hurts much more when you have a little taste of what it would be like to have what you want and can’t have.”

            Blaise turned back to Harry. “You regret it then?”

            Harry shook his head. “I’ve also found that the memories can be worth the pain.”

            Blaise nodded and looked resigned. He looked absolutely miserable and Harry’s heart went out to him. Harry was used to this feeling, but he remembered wishing, those first few times he lost something important to him, that he had someone to talk to who truly understood, who had been there themselves.

            “Blaise…” Harry trailed off, not certain how his offer would be received. Though through his last year at Hogwarts Harry had managed to overcome the House rivalries and even managed to recruit quite a few Slytherins, parents and students, to his side, he wasn’t sure how Blaise felt about him.

            Blaise turned to look at Harry. Harry looked at Malfoy Manor.

            “Blaise, I know this might sound…a little strange maybe, but…if you ever want someone to talk to, someone you can trust not to laugh at you or mock you, someone you can trust to never tell anyone else what you say…you can always talk to me.” Harry shrugged, uncomfortable with his little speech.

            Blaise looked at Harry for a moment and then looked back at the Manor. He nodded without looking at Harry and Apparated away.

            Harry gave the Manor one last look and a sad smile and then he Apparated away himself.

*************************************

            Harry arrived at the Burrow very early in the morning. He guessed it might be around three or four. He approached the house quietly, grateful Mrs. Weasley had decided to set the wards of the house to recognize and open for Harry. He moved silently through the house, not wanting to wake anyone.

            When he reached the door of the room he always shared with Ron, Harry took a deep breath before opening the door. He was relieved to see that the room was empty. Harry quickly looked up and down the hallway before entering the room and closing the door behind him.

            Harry grabbed his trunk and quickly packed. He put all of his things in his trunk, even the things he usually just left at the Burrow. When all of his belongings were packed in the trunk, Harry closed it then shrunk it. Harry put his trunk in his pocket and gave the room one last look around.

            Harry left the Burrow as quietly as he had entered. As he stood in the garden, he looked up at the house and tried to capture the sight in his memory. Sighing, Harry Apparated away.

************************************

            Rather than go to his creepy house with all its bad memories, Harry found himself in Diagon Alley. As Harry walked out of the small side alley he had Apparated to, he rounded a corner and ran right into Fred and George. Harry swore silently. He had forgotten he usually used this alley because it was right by the twins’ shop and he always made it a point to visit whenever he could.

            “Harry!” Two voices cried out.

            “Fred, George,” Harry said warily. He was no longer sure of his reception with these two after the day before.

            “Where have you been, mate? We have…”

            “…been looking all over for you. Spent the whole night at it.”

            “What happened, mate? Why weren’t you at the party?”

            Harry looked back and forth between the twins. He thought about lying to them, but he could stand the thought. “You mean Ron and Hermione never said anything?”

            The twins shared a look. “Well, they did seem unconcerned by your absence…”

            “…but, we have a hard time believing you would miss your best friends’ engagement party, much less…”

            “…that they would think nothing of it.”

            “So what’s going on, Harry?”

            Harry sighed and ran a hand over his face. He gave them a sad smile. He seemed to have an endless supply of them nowadays. “Months ago, I asked Ron and Hermione to help me with something. I wanted to put together an event. This event was very important to me and they agreed to help. Actually, with Hermione’s planning skills, they practically took it out of my hands. As I had no idea what I was doing, I was a bit relieved. About the only thing they let me help with was getting a place to hold the event and writing out and sending some of the invitations…all of the invitations for the Slytherins. Hermione and Ron did all the other invitations.

            “And then, yesterday as I’m getting ready to leave, I get an owl. It’s my invitation to their engagement party…which they went out of their way to schedule for the exact time and date I had planned for my event. I guess they thought I would have no choice but to choose them, my best friends, and just stand up the Slytherins.

            “Instead, I went to the party I had planned and apologized to everyone present and did what I could to make it work,” Harry finished.

            The twins were looking at him, stunned. Their mouths opened and closed, but no words came out.

            “I now find myself without a pair of best friends. If they could to that to me, just because they never managed to get over stupid House rivalries, then they are most certainly not my best friends, or any kind of friend for that matter,” Harry said into the silence.

            Fred and George still looked a bit shocked, but then identical expressions of outrage came to their faces.

            “I can’t believe they would do something like that!”

            “How could they treat _Harry_ like that?!”

            Harry blinked. “You believe me?”

            The twins shared a look and then turned to Harry. “Harry, when Ron and Hermione seemed unconcerned by your absence…”

            “…we just assumed they thought you would be late. But when you still hadn’t shown up after a few hours…”

            “…we knew something had to be wrong. You would never just not show up.”

            “That’s why we left early and decided to try to find you.”

            The twins shared a look. “Harry, we hope you won’t hold…

            “…Ron’s actions against us. We rather value…”

            “…our friendship with you. Especially as we…”

            “…have spent more and more time with you over the past couple of years.”

            They shared another look and continued even more quietly. “You are probably…”

            “…the only one who accepts our prankster sides…”

            “…but has no problem accepting we can be quite serious as well.”

            “While we do enjoy pranks and jokes…”

            “…it seems like everyone else has just written us off as useless pranksters.”

            Harry blinked and frowned. “Well, yeah, you like jokes and pranks, but you run a successful shop. And really, given all of the things you two created for our side during the war, how can anyone just write you off?”

            The twins gave Harry a small smile. “That’s just…”

            “…what we mean, Harry. Other than each other…”

            “…you are the only one we can have serious conversations with any more.”

            Harry shook his head. “Well, I certainly don’t hold Ron’s actions against you.” Harry grinned. “Especially since you two were concerned for me.”

            The twins grinned back for a moment before becoming serious again. “Harry, if there is anything…”

            “…we can do to help…”

            “…just let us know.”

            Harry nodded. “Actually, I’m going to put a Fidelius charm on Number 12. I’m going to be the secret keeper.” Harry sighed. “After this…I just don’t feel comfortable with Ron and Hermione just dropping by at any time.”

            Fred and George frowned. “You aren’t going to stay…”

            “…at the Burrow until the place is cleaned up, like you planned…”

            “…are you?”

            Harry shook his head. “I’m going to get a room at the Leaky Cauldron. It’s nice that you two gave me the benefit of the doubt, but I know your Mum too well to think I can stay at the Burrow now. She will try to make me feel guilty for choosing the party with the Slytherins and she won’t believe me when I try to tell her what really happened. Besides, I don’t want to be anywhere around Ron and Hermione for a while. Anyway, I was hoping the two of you would not mention my whereabouts to the others,” Harry finished.

            The twins nodded. “Why don’t you stay with us?”

            Harry shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It would make it harder to avoid Ron and Hermione. Besides, I think I could use a little time alone.” Harry shrugged.

            The twins gave him sympathetic looks and nodded.


	3. Visit

            After several hours of sleep and a hot shower, Harry sat on his bed in his room at the Leaky Cauldron and tried to think about what he would do next. His thoughts were interrupted by an owl tapping at his window. Harry walked over and opened the window. The owl flew in and landed on the back of the chair next to the table.

            Harry fed the owl from the remnants of his recent meal as he read the note it had delivered.

 _Harry,_

 _I was wondering if you would be free for tea this afternoon._

 _Blaise_

            Harry’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Finding parchment, quill and ink, Harry wrote a quick reply.

 _Blaise,_

 _Tea would be great. Would you like to meet at the teashop in Diagon Alley? I’m free all day so whenever you would like to meet would be fine._

 _Harry._

            Harry sent the owl off with the note. He left the window open in anticipation of a reply. It came shortly.

 _Harry,_

 _I had hoped you would not mind coming to my house for tea. My mother and her husband are away, so you needn’t worry on that count. If this acceptable, perhaps we could meet around four?_

 _Blaise_

            Harry was surprised at the offer of meeting in Blaise’s home, but thought the other man might want privacy to talk. Harry shrugged and sent a reply confirming their meeting later in the day.

***********************************

            Harry arrived a few minutes before four and looked around as he waited for someone to answer his knock. The grounds of the Zabini estate were not as large as the Malfoy estate, but they were equally well kept. The house was not quite as grand, but it was no less impressive to Harry.

            The door opened and Harry was surprised to see Blaise answering the door himself rather than a house elf. He was also surprised to see Blaise casually attired in muggle clothes: jeans and a t-shirt.

            “Harry, please, come in.”

            Blaise showed Harry into a large dining room. They continued until they were at a little alcove in the back corner. In the alcove was a small table with two chairs. They had an excellent view of a garden through the windows surrounding the alcove.

            “Won’t you sit down?”

            Harry sat and smiled. “You don’t have to be so formal with me, Blaise.”

            Blaise nodded and seemed to relax just a tiny bit as he sat across from Harry. “Thank you for coming.”

            Before Harry could reply, a house elf appeared and served tea. For a little while the two made small talk. Eventually though, Harry ventured, “I was a little surprised to get your message, Blaise. Is everything alright?”

 Blaise tensed up and looked down at his tea for a long time. “Everything’s fine,” he finally muttered.

            Harry frowned. When Blaise refused to look at him, he reached over and placed his hand on one of Blaise’s wrists. Blaise looked up in surprise. “I said you could talk to me about anything, and I meant it. You can tell me what’s going on.”

            Blaise looked away and shrugged. He grimaced and looked back down at his tea. “I don’t really know why I invited you, okay? I just-It’s-…” Blaise sighed. “I hate this house and I hate being here. I’m not sure whether I hate it more if I’m here alone or if my mother and her current husband are home. Maybe I thought…” Blaise took a drink of tea. “Maybe I thought we could be friends or something,” he muttered.

            Harry tilted his head and looked at Blaise. “Sounds good to me,” Harry said cheerfully.

            Blaise looked up and blinked. Then he frowned in doubt. “What?”

            Harry shrugged. “You aren’t the only one without friends at the moment, Blaise.”

            Blaise glared. “I seriously doubt any of your friends chose the Dark Lord over you.”

            Harry nodded. “You’re right. My friends didn’t have the excuse of their parents pressuring them to join their cause, however misguided. My friends just decided to betray me because they didn’t like the thought of letting go of old House rivalries.”

            Blaise frowned. “What?”

            Harry sighed. “Do you remember me telling everyone last night that the reason the party wasn’t what I had said it would be was because I was tricked by the people I asked to help me put it together?” Blaise nodded. “My now former best friends were the ones I was talking about.”

            Blaise’s eyes opened wide. “You mean the other two -thirds of the ‘Golden Trio’ just left you on your own at the last minute?”

            Harry shook his head. “No. They tricked me.” Harry explained about their engagement party. “I think what hurt the most was that they hadn’t even told me they had gotten engaged. I didn’t find out until I got the invite minutes before I showed up at the party last night.”

            Blaise shook his head and they drank tea in silence for several minutes. After a while, Harry asked, “Are you sure your mother won’t mind me being here?”

            Blaise shook his head. “My mother and her current husband are in Italy for the next two months.”

            Harry frowned. “I know it’s not any of my business, but if you hate it here, why don’t you go somewhere else?”

            Blaise shrugged. “Like where? I know my mother would love to have me out of the way, but really, what’s the point of moving into my own place? At least here I have house elves and plenty of room.”

            Harry looked at Blaise. “You don’t want to be alone.”

            Blaise glared. “Okay, so maybe I don’t. So what?”

            Harry gave him a small smile. “Why don’t you move in with me? I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to living in my house all alone. Though I do have to warn you: the house needs a lot of work before we could move in.”

            Blaise gave him a strange look. “Harry, I may be a Slytherin, but I have a rule against having sex on the first date. And you expect me to move in with you after a few minutes of tea?”

            Harry burst out laughing. “Honestly, Blaise! My intentions are honorable, I swear! You’d have your own room and everything. We can even put a lock on it before you move in,” Harry said, giving Blaise a cheeky grin.

            Blaise snorted. “And what would you do if I took you up on the offer to move in with you?”

            Harry raised his eyebrows. “Suggest that the house would be ready much sooner if you helped clean it up?”

             Blaise laughed. “Okay. You have a deal. How long do you think it will take to clean it up?” Harry winced. Blaise’s brows rose. “That bad?”

            “When you see it, you’ll understand. Oh, and I should warn you. Before I move back in, in fact before I even begin cleaning it up, I am going to put a Fidelius charm on the house. I don’t want any of my former friends to just invite themselves over as they have been allowed to in the past.”

            Blaise nodded. “So you want me to ask before telling anyone or inviting anyone home.”

            Harry shook his head. “I was thinking more along the lines of us discussing who we invite over or tell about the house. If you move in with me, it’s going to be your house too, especially if you help clean it up. I don’t want you to always feel like you are a guest. You won’t be. You will be a roommate,” Harry said and then frowned. “House-mate…whatever.” He shrugged.

            “Oh, and one more thing,” Harry said. “There won’t be any house elves. At least I don’t have any.”

            Blaise shook his head. “All the house elves answer to my mother. I would really rather not have them in the house if I move out.”

            Harry nodded. “I want to tell the Weasley twins, but that’s about it for now. What about you?”

            Blaise frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head. “There’s no one that I can think of.” He took a drink of tea. “So where are you staying if your house is in such bad shape?”

            Harry grimaced. “Well, I was staying at the Burrow with the Weasleys, but after last night there’s no way I’m going back there. I am staying at the Leaky Cauldron for now.”

            Blaise frowned. “Why don’t you stay here?”

            “What?” Harry asked in surprise.

            “Stay here. My mother will be gone for two months. Surely, if we work hard, that will give us enough time to at least make it livable. I mean, unless it needs major work.”

            Harry shook his head. “Really, it’s just major redecorating. Nothing we couldn’t do on our own. And you’re right. If we worked hard, it could be livable by the time your mother returns. But are you sure about me staying here?”

            Blaise nodded. “Yeah. Like I said, I hate it here by myself.”

            Harry nodded and again they drank tea in silence for a while.

            “You know, I think you might be right. About last night I mean,” Blaise said, not looking up from his cup.

            Harry thought back to last night. He remembered Lucius and Severus both getting him into the bedroom. They had made it clear that they had never been together before, much less shared someone, but they promised to make losing his virginity the most incredible experience of his life. Harry smiled a little. They had definitely succeeded in that.

            “I take it I’m not the only one with good memories of last night?” Harry asked.

            Blaise gave a sad smile. “Last night was…incredible.”

            Harry gave his own sad smile.


	4. Diagon Alley

            After tea, Harry went back to the Leaky Cauldron to get his things and check out of his room. He was back at Blaise’s house in time for dinner. After being shown to his room, Harry joined Blaise for dinner. They again sat in the little alcove in the dining room.

            Dinner was delicious. As they ate, Harry frowned down at his food as he had a thought. “Blaise, do you know how to cook?”

            Blaise looked surprised. “No. Why?”

            “Well, if we don’t have house elves we are going to have to cook ourselves. I can cook some meals, but only in muggle kitchens. I don’t know anything about cooking in a wizard kitchen.”  
            Blaise frowned. “I guess we are going to have to add learning to cook to the list of things that absolutely have to be done before my mother returns.”

            Harry nodded. “Why don’t we get the house elves to teach us? I mean, we will have to take into account the differences in house elf magic and wizard magic, but I’m sure we could still learn enough to keep from starving.”

            Blaise continued frowning, but nodded. “I don’t know anyone else to ask.”

            Harry looked sad for a moment. “It’s too bad I can’t ask Mrs. Weasley. She’s an excellent cook.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I think we should start on the house tomorrow. We are really going to need all the time we have to get the house into shape. Why don’t we plan to go to the house in the morning? Let me show you around, and we can work on making a list of things that need to be done?”

            Blaise nodded. “Sounds good.” Blaise didn’t say any more, but he was surprised to find out that Harry seemed to have truly meant what he had said about it really being Blaise’s house as well. Harry was really treating him like a partner in this.

*********************************

            The next morning, Harry opened the door to Number 12 and stood aside to let Blaise enter. Blaise looked shocked at the state of the house. He turned to say something to Harry, but Harry quickly shook his head and held a finger to his lips in a sign to stay quiet. As Harry tiptoed along the hall, he kept glancing at a large, dusty curtain; Blaise followed curiously.

            Once they reached the kitchen, Harry turned to Blaise. “Sorry about that. I forgot to warn you about Mrs. Black.”

            “Mrs. Black?!”

            Harry nodded. “I inherited this house from my godfather, Sirius Black. That’s why it’s in such disrepair. It wasn’t really cared for while he was in Azkaban and after he got out he was worried about being caught. It was only after he died that he was finally exonerated.”

            “And…Mrs. Black?”

            “An extremely unpleasant portrait. She’s held in place by some kind of permanent sticking charm. No one has been able to remove the painting.”

            Blaise frowned. “I might know a spell or two we can try.”

            Harry looked at Blaise. “If you can get her off the wall, it would be greatly appreciated.”

            Blaise smirked at Harry. “How appreciated?”

            Harry leered. “Well, I know this trick with whipped cream, two cherries and-”

            “Oh, my god, Harry!” Blaise said blushing.

            Harry laughed. “Oh, you’ve heard of it.”

            “Maybe I’ll get that lock installed on my bedroom door after all,” Blaise muttered.

            Harry grinned. “Come on, let’s start here. The kitchen is definitely a necessity.”

            Harry and Blaise spent the next several hours going through the house from the bottom up making a list of everything that needed to be done. They decided to wait until the list was finished before trying to prioritize it. By the time they were done, both were starving.

            “Do you want to head back to my house for lunch?” Blaise asked, stretching. They had done a thorough inspection of the house and that had included a lot of bending and stretching.

            Harry shook his head. “Why don’t we eat out? I think we could both use a little bit of human interaction.”

            Blaise nodded. “Why don’t we go to Diagon Alley? We can work on the list at lunch and maybe go ahead and start at least looking for some things we might need.”

            Harry nodded. “Good idea. There’s a new place close to the Weasley twins’ shop. Want to check it out?”

            Blaise nodded. “Sounds good.”

***********************************

            Harry and Blaise had only been in Diagon Alley a few minutes when Harry heard his name being called. He turned to see Fred and George hurrying toward him.

            “Harry! There you are. We went to the Leaky Cauldron…”

            “…looking for you and Tom said you checked out yesterday.”  
            “We had wanted to talk to you.”

            “Do you have a while?”

            Blaise looked uncomfortable. “Harry, I can just meet you back at-”

            Harry shook his head. “Why don’t you join us for lunch?” he asked the Weasley twins.

            The twins shared a look. “We hadn’t meant to…”

            “…interrupt anything, but this really…”

            “…is important, Harry.”

            Harry nodded and motioned for them to join him and Blaise. The four of them went to the new restaurant.

            After they were seated, Harry said, “Fred, George, I believe you know Blaise Zabini. Blaise, you remember Fred and George don’t you?”

            The three men exchanged greetings, and then the twins turned to Harry. “Harry, where were you last night?”

            Harry grinned at Blaise, who glared…and blushed. “I spent the night at Blaise’s house.”

            The twins shared another look. “Didn’t know you were gay, mate,” George said.

            “Glad to see you haven’t let the situation with Ron and Hermione stop you from living your life,” Fred said. “Though to have checked out of your room…”

            Harry snickered as Blaise glared at him. “Well, I’m staying with Blaise until we get Number 12 cleaned up and then we are moving in there.”

            The twins exchanged another look of surprise. “Moving in together?” Fred asked.

            “And you never even told us you were gay, Harry,” George said with mock disappointment.  
            “Harry!” Blaise said.

            Harry laughed. “It’s not like that, guys. I didn’t want stay at Number 12 all alone, so when Blaise said he didn’t want to live at home any more I asked him to move in. He agreed and said he would help me clean the place up. I’m staying with him while his mother’s out of the country while we try to get the place decent.”

            “And the being gay thing?” George and Fred asked together.

            Harry grinned. “Yeah, I’m gay. I never told anyone because by the time I figured it out and got my head straight, um, figuratively speaking, everyone just assumed I was straight and I didn’t feel like explaining it when I wasn’t interested in anyone.” Harry shrugged. “You know how Ron and Hermione can be. It didn’t seem worth it to bring it up without a reason. And telling anyone else before I told them would have been even worse.”

            Fred and George winced and nodded in sympathy. “That actually brings us to why we wanted to talk with you. Remus came to see us yesterday. It seems he left only a little while after us for much the same reason. He wanted to know if we had seen you. We didn’t think you would mind, so we told him what happened…” George said.

            The twins looked at Harry. Harry nodded.

            “Well, when we told him, he was upset as well. It seems others have come to the conclusion that you, uh…” Fred trailed off.

            “Turned my back on my friends?” Harry asked matter-of-factly, with a sad smile.

            The other three looked at him.

            “Harry, how can you be so calm about what they did?” Blaise asked.

            Harry shrugged. “I’ve spent most of my life angry and bitter. If I let them make me like that again, I am giving them power over me for the rest of my life. If that’s how Ron and Hermione want to be, let them. Anyone who could just believe that of me doesn’t know me very well or doesn’t really care about me.”

            Fred and George looked at Harry sadly.

            Harry shook his head. “So, what was the emergency?”

            “Oh, well, when we couldn’t find you at the Leaky Cauldron, Remus began to get really worried. If you don’t contact him soon, he’s probably going to start going around telling people you have been kidnapped or something.”

            Harry grinned. “Nice to see not everyone has turned their backs on me.”

            After lunch, Harry and Blaise parted ways with Fred and George. They had to get back to their shop.  Harry turned to Blaise and asked, “How about ice cream? We never did work on the list at lunch and while the food was good, I’m still a little hungry.”

            Blaise nodded. “I’m still a bit hungry too. Like you said, the food was good, but they didn’t really give you much of it.”

            They walked along Diagon Alley toward Fortescue’s. As they walked they discussed the various items on their list, trying to decide what could wait and what couldn’t.

            They ended up spending two hours at the ice cream parlor working on the list. Finally, they had three lists. One of what **had** to be done in the time they had, one of things they would like to get done before moving in, and one of things that could definitely wait until after they moved in.

************************************

            In a cleaning supply store, while looking for all of the things they would need to clean the house, Blaise asked, “Does it bother you?”

            Harry turned to him. “Does what bother me?”

            Blaise subtly gestured around. “That everyone ignores you. I mean, you saved everyone and they just…ignore you.”

            Harry looked around and noticed that no one was really paying him any attention at all. He frowned at he thought over the day. He turned back to Blaise wearing a wide smile. “They don’t ignore me, Blaise. They just treat me like everyone else. I’m not anyone important, but they aren’t hostile or actively going out of their way to not deal with me. Honestly? I like it much better than the way they used to treat me. I like not being important anymore.”

            Blaise shook his head. “You don’t think they are being ungrateful?”

            Harry shrugged. “Who cares?” He grinned. “It’s not my problem to worry about the rest of the world anymore.”


	5. Mothers

            After stopping by Number 12 to drop off the cleaning supplies they had purchased, Harry and Blaise returned to Blaise’s house. As they walked in, Harry said, “I think I’ll write to Remus so he doesn’t worry. Maybe I’ll ask him to meet for lunch tomorrow or something.”  
            Blaise frowned. “I thought you wanted to start on the cleaning tomorrow.”

            Harry nodded. “Yes, but we are going to need to take breaks or we are going to wear ourselves out. I thought we could break for lunch each day and maybe go to Diagon Alley. You know, give us a chance to get out for a bit and relax.”

            Blaise nodded. “Well, if he wants to meet you tomorrow I can just-”

            “Come with me,” Harry said, nodding. “Excellent idea.”

            Blaise looked at Harry strangely. “Harry, I got the feeling he might want a private meeting with you.”

            Harry smiled. “Yes, but he will feel much better if he meets you and see how well we get along. Besides, if you hate being here alone, it’s hardly going to be a relaxing experience to come back here and have lunch alone. That’s another reason why I think it’s good to go out for lunch. You can spend time away from this house.”

            Blaise shook his head, but he was wearing a small smile. Harry smiled back. Both of them stopped smiling as they walked into the dining room and saw the bright red letter sitting on the table. For a long moment, they just stood and stared at the Howler. Harry sighed.

            “That’s probably for me,” Harry said. “If you want to run now, I won’t hold it against you.”

            Before Blaise could reply, the Howler burst open on its own and the magnified voice of Mrs. Weasley filled the room and made both men wince.

            “Harry James Potter! How could you treat your friends so poorly?! How could you refuse to come to your best friends’ engagement party, which they had been planning for _months_ , just to go to a little get together for Slytherins?!…”

            The ranting continued and it didn’t seem like it would stop for some time. Harry began to get angry and he pulled out his wand. The ranting ended abruptly as the Howler burst into flames. Harry managed to put it out before the table was damaged.

            “Sorry,” Harry muttered, completely embarrassed.

            Blaise snorted in amusement. “I wonder why no one ever tried that before. I mean, I always thought they were fire proof.”

            Harry blushed. “Um, they are. I used a special variant of the Fiendfyre spell.”

            Blaise looked seriously impressed. “Wow.”

            Harry shrugged, embarrassed again. “Not only did I have to learn many different spells, including dark spells, but I was taught how to alter and create my own spells.” Harry gave a wistful smile. “Severus was particularly good at that.”

            Blaise gave him a sympathetic look before turning back to the ashes on the table. “You know, I think you ought to send a Howler of your own telling her off for thinking you would do something like that. You know, have it delivered in public when your two former friends are around.”

            Harry laughed. “As much fun as that would be, it would be a waste of time. She would think I was only trying to make myself feel better about what I did wrong. Then there’s the chance that it would cause Ron and Hermione to turn their attention on me. Honestly, if they just spend the rest of their lives pretending I don’t exist, it will be fine with me. I just want to move on with my life.”

            Blaise nodded. “And it hurts less and is easier to get over when they aren’t around,” Blaise said quietly. 

            Harry sighed and nodded. Then he took a deep breath and pushed the depressing thoughts away. “So, ready to start learning to how to cook?”

***********************************

            Harry laughed so hard he had trouble breathing. Blaise just stood there and glared at Harry. Blaise was practically covered in flour and his hair was sticking up in the front where he had gotten his hand wet with melted butter and then had accidentally run his hand through his flour covered hair. Harry, who had managed to remain fairly clean due to his previous experience with cooking, held his stomach as he gasped for breath and tried to stop laughing.

            “Not funny,” Blaise said through gritted teeth. Harry just kept laughing. Blaise looked around and spotted the bowl of flour. He grinned evilly and reached over and picked it up. When Harry finally stopped laughing and had mostly caught his breath, Blaise used a quick _aguamenti_ and soaked Harry. Then he tossed the flour over Harry.

            Harry stood there blinking, his mouth opening and closing, but no words coming out. Blaise burst out laughing. The flour stuck to Harry in clumps and some fell off as Harry shook his head.

            After Blaise stopped laughing, they shared a look and smiled at each other. They used a few quick cleaning charms and went back to work…after coaxing the cowering house elves out of hiding.

*************************************

            The next morning, Harry and Blaise stood in the kitchen at Number 12 looking over their list.

            “Okay, I know we said we were going to start on the kitchen, but I was thinking we might want to get a bathroom cleaned first. That way, we can bring a change of clothes so when we get dirty, we can clean ourselves up a bit before going out for lunch. What do you think?” Harry said.

            Blaise looked around. “Yeah, I think that might be a good idea. For today we can go back to my house to get cleaned up. What time did you agree to meet with, uh, Professor Lupin?”

            Harry smiled. “Go ahead and call him ‘Remus.’ And he will be expecting us around one. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fred and George dropped in too.”

            “Right,” Blaise said, running a hand through his hair and looking around. “Well, let’s get to work then.”

************************************

            “Harry?” Blaise said, knocking on the door to the bedroom he had given Harry when he had come to stay.

            “Come on in, Blaise,” Harry said through the door.

            Blaise winced as he opened the door and went into the bedroom. Harry was standing next to the bed wearing just a pair of jeans and looking through a bag sitting on the bed.

            “Just a second. I know I have that salve in here somewhere. Are you sure you don’t want to go to-?” Harry said.

            Blaise shook his head. “No. I can’t believe I did that, though.”

            “Well, your shoes were wet from that burst pipe,” Harry said reasonably. Harry grinned over at him. “Hey, it’s not so bad. I mean, at least it’s just some scrapes and bruises. You could have broken something falling like that. Ah, here it is. Turn around and I’ll put this on your back for you.”

            Blaise, also barefoot and wearing only jeans, turned so Harry could reach the injuries on his back. He hissed as Harry touched his back, dabbing on the salve. “I think it had something to do with the fact that I _slid_ down the stairs on my back rather than falling down the stairs like most people,” Blaise said, trying to focus on the conversation rather than the stinging pain he felt.

            After a few minutes, Harry stood from where he had knelt to reach the scrapes on Blaise’s lower back. “There you are, all done.”

            Before Blaise could say anything, they heard a sound on the stairs. They walked to the door of the bedroom just in time to meet Blaise’s mother. Harry’s eyes opened wide as he looked at the elegant, dark haired woman.

            Victoria Zabini looked back and forth between her son and the other young man. Both were wearing only jeans and both had wet hair and they were coming out of a bedroom. Knowing her son’s preferences for men, she came to a rather obvious assumption.

            “Well, Blaise, Harry Potter is certainly a better choice if you insist on your delusions of happily ever after. He is certainly far more likely to remain faithful and to give you a family. You would do well not to let him go. Men like that are quite rare.” With that, she nodded at Harry and said, “Mr. Potter,” before she continued down the hallway.

            The two young men watched her walk away.

            “Er,” Harry said.

            “It may be hard to believe given her history with men, but my mother actually loves me. We have talked about our…different views on life. She thinks it is unrealistic for me to think I can have a family and a faithful spouse when I’m gay.” Blaise shrugged.

            Harry frowned. “She thinks you will never be happy because you are gay?”

            Blaise shook his head. “No, it’s just…she has a rather jaded opinion of men. She thinks that most are incapable of being faithful or of being happy with family life. She thinks that if I liked women I would have an easier time finding someone who wants the same things I do out of life.”

            Harry nodded. “Yeah, I guess I can see her point. But I’m gay and I want the whole kids and faithful spouse package too. We can’t be the only ones.”

            Blaise snorted. “Well, if we are, I guess when we get tired of dating around we will have to marry each other.”

            Harry laughed. “Wow, Blaise. We haven’t even moved into our own home yet and you are talking about marriage.” Harry gave Blaise a shy smile and fluttered his lashes.

            Blaise laughed and shoved Harry.

            Harry laughed. “So, I guess this means she doesn’t mind that I’m staying here for a bit?” Harry asked hesitantly.

            Blaise waved a hand. “She’ll be fine with it. Honestly, the only reason it was important to finish before she returned was because I thought you would be uncomfortable. Though if you don’t mind, if she’s back, I would like to move up our move in date.”

            Harry shook his head. “I don’t mind at all.” He grinned. “The only thing we might have trouble with is the cooking.”

            Blaise shrugged. “Well, we could spend more time in the evenings working on that. Instead of just a couple of hours before dinner, we could practice before dinner and then again after dinner.”

            Harry nodded. “Okay then.”

            “How long do you think it would take to just make it good enough for us to live in the house?”

            “Well, I think we could probably move in after we have a bedroom each and at least one bathroom and then the kitchen. We’ve already gotten quite a bit done today on the one bathroom, but the bedrooms and the kitchen are going to take quite a bit of work. We might just have to see how it goes,” Harry finished apologetically.

            Blaise thought about it. He really wanted to get out of his house. He loved his mother, but they got along much better when they didn’t live in the same house. It was fine when he was going to Hogwarts. Even the summers weren’t so bad because they both knew he would be going back. Since he had graduated…well, it was the reason his mother had gone to Italy. They both needed room.

            “Do you think if we really worked at it we might be able to move in in a couple weeks?” Blaise asked.

            Harry thought about it for a bit and then nodded. “I think so. If you are really determined to get out of here, we can even move in after only one bedroom is finished. We’ve both slept in dorms for years, so sharing a room for a little while while we work on another room shouldn’t be a problem.”

            “Sounds like a plan then,” Blaise said in relief. “Now, we have to get going if we don’t want to be late.”

            Harry laughed. “Might be a good idea to get dressed first,” Harry said.

            Blaise snorted and went to his room to change.


	6. Closer

            In the study in Malfoy Manor, Severus glared at the fireplace while Lucius paced.

            “Where could he be, Severus?” Lucius asked angrily. “Surely he wouldn’t return to the Weasleys after what happened.”

            “I wouldn’t think so either, Lucius, but where else is there to look? We have checked his house,” Severus growled in frustration.

            “I still cannot believe he just left like that. That’s not like a Gryffindor at all,” Lucius muttered.

            “A point we will have to address when we find him.”

            “ **If** we find him. It has already been three days! And no one will tell _us_ anything.”

            “We are former Death Eaters, Lucius. While most of the world may have turned their backs on Harry, ungrateful idiots that they are, those who may know where Harry is will still be loyal to him. They won’t just tell us where to find him.”

            Silence fell as both men tried to think of where else to look for their missing lover.

            “I don’t understand why Harry would have left!” Lucius said in frustration. “There was no mistaking we satisfied him. He couldn’t possibly have found fault with our skills as lovers! And he couldn’t be upset that we both want him. He said himself he couldn‘t imagine a better way to lose his virginity than to two experienced lovers.”

            Draco, standing outside the door to the study, grimaced. He had intended to let his father know he was leaving, but there was no way he was interrupting _that_ conversation.

            As he turned and left, Draco tried not to think about just what he had heard. It had been difficult enough to find his godfather and former professor, his ‘Uncle’ Severus, coming out of his father’s bedroom the morning after the party. He most certainly did not need to know that they had both been deflowering _Harry Potter_ the night before.

            Draco shuddered in disgust. He knew _far_ too much about his father’s sex life for his own peace of mind.

            Draco Apparated out of Malfoy Manor and into Diagon Alley. He reached up and pushed a lock of his hair back in to place and then he started off for the restaurant where he had agreed to meet his mother.

***********************************

            Harry and Blaise arrived before Remus and decided to go ahead and get a table. Harry watched Blaise play with his napkin as they waited. He reached over and put his hand on top of Blaise’s to stop him from shredding the cloth napkin.

            “Nervous?” Harry asked dryly.

            Blaise glared. “You’ve made it clear the man is like a father to you and here we are, getting ready to tell him I am moving in with you. Forgive me if I feel a little nervous. I hadn’t actually thought I would ever find myself in this situation,” Blaise said. “I think this must be what it would feel like to be telling my fiancé’s father we are getting married,” he muttered.

            “You are getting married?!”

            Harry and Blaise jerked their heads around and met the stunned gaze of Remus Lupin. Harry blinked and then realized how they must look. He and Blaise were sitting side by side and he still had his hand on top of Blaise’s hand.

            Harry laughed. Blaise looked ready to have a panic attack.

            “Would you like to sit down, Remus?” Harry asked.

            The werewolf dropped into a chair across from the two younger men. “You’re getting married?” he repeated, quieter.

            Harry smiled. “No.” He removed his hand from Blaise’s, but when Blaise still looked panicked, he put his hand on Blaise’s back and started rubbing soothingly.

            Harry didn’t really think about how it looked, or even really think about the move at all. Harry was a very touchy-feely person. Most people assumed he didn’t like to be touched or to show physical affection, but the truth was Harry loved it. After being denied it when he was a child, Harry had a secret craving for physical contact.

            People’s mistaken assumption about Harry not liking to touch or be touched actually came from Ron being rather homophobic (despite, or maybe because of, the fact that some of his brothers were gay) and Hermione being extremely standoffish. When both Ron and Hermione had made it clear that they didn’t like Harry touching them, Harry had come to the conclusion that most people would feel the same.

            Blaise, for his part, wasn’t used to physical affection or contact either and was surprised at just how good it felt to have Harry’s hand slowly move up and down his back. He felt his panic fading as Harry continued to move his hand.

            Remus just looked back and forth between the two young men with a polite, yet still skeptical expression on his face.

            Harry noticed the look and smiled wider. “We aren’t getting married, Remus. We are moving in together. And before you come to the wrong conclusion, Blaise and I are just friends.”

            Blaise cleared his throat. “We, uh, realize how it might look to some people since we are both gay and-” Blaise shrugged uncomfortably.

            “After what happened with Ron and Hermione, I couldn’t stay at the Burrow anymore, but I did not want to go back to that creepy house before I had a chance to clean it up,” Harry said. “Well, Blaise and I got to talking and…I hadn’t been looking forward to living all alone in that house even after I cleaned it up. Blaise wanted to move out of his house to get a little space from his mother, but he really hadn’t wanted to live alone either. So, I suggested he move in with me. He’s helping me clean the place up and as soon as we have the essentials taken care of, we are going to be moving in.”

            Remus frowned. “Where have you been staying, Harry? Fred and George said you were staying at the Leaky Cauldron, but when we went to see you Tom told us you had checked out of your room.”

            Blaise barely managed to refrain from groaning and beating his head on the table. Harry just shrugged.

            “I’m staying with Blaise. When I asked him to move in with me he offered to let me stay with him while we clean up Number 12.”

            “I see,” Remus said. He hesitated and then started to speak, but before he could Fred and George arrived with the waiter.

            The twins greeted everyone and the waiter took their orders. Once the waiter left, George and Fred turned to the others.

            “So, what did we miss?” George asked cheerfully.

            “I had just finished telling Remus about my living arrangements before you arrived,” Harry said.

            “He left out the part where I overheard Blaise say something about them getting married,” Remus said with a grin. He _had_ been one of the Marauders.

            The twins turned to Harry and Blaise. Blaise groaned and covered his face with one hand and Harry just shook his head, smiling.

            The twins shared a look, but Harry and Blaise were rescued by the waiter returning with their drinks. Harry quickly changed the subject.

            “So, Remus. Fred and George told you what happened then?”

            Remus stopped grinning and a sad look came to his face. “Yes. I’m sorry, Harry.”

            “Hey,” Harry said, trying to lighten the mood. “At least now I don’t have to worry about coming out to Ron.”

            Fred and George shared a look. “What?”

            Harry looked at them in surprise. “Don’t tell me you two never noticed how homophobic he is!”

            Fred and George shared another look. “Homophobic?!”

            Harry nodded. “Yeah. It got so bad that at one point, he freaked out when I grabbed his hand and helped him up after he tripped and fell down.”

            The twins shared another look.

            “Okay, out with it,” Harry said. “What are those looks about?”

            “Well, we had promised to never tell…” Fred said.

            “…but seeing how Ron has treated you lately…” George said.

            “Ron’s fancied you for years,” they finished together.

            Harry blinked. “What? Why would you think that?” Harry asked, completely bewildered.

            “We caught him…”

            “…having a naughty dream…”

            “…and calling out your name.”

            Harry was shocked. He had never even thought of Ron like that. “Okay, well that is…” He shook his head. “I don’t even have words.”

            The others gave him sympathetic looks and Harry decided it was time to change the subject again.

            “So…” Harry grinned. “Going to help us clean up Number 12?”

            The meal passed with a great deal of teasing. By the time the group stood to leave, Blaise was feeling much more comfortable.

            They stopped in the lobby to say their goodbyes. They paid no attention to the people coming and going.

            “So, you’re going to make sure we’re invited to your wedding aren’t you, Harry?” asked George, grinning.

            “Yeah, mate. Though I gotta say, telling us you’re gay and then telling us you are marrying Blaise, all in one week?” Fred shook his head in mock disappointment. “You know you don’t have to hide these things from us, Harry.”

            Remus grinned. “Tell me I get to walk you down the aisle, Harry.”

            “No wonder you get into so much trouble, Harry,” Blaise said, wearing a small smile. He shook his head.

            Harry grinned and put his arm around Blaise’s shoulders. “Just imagine what the kids will be like,” Harry said teasingly before kissing Blaise on the cheek.

            Blaise just rolled his eyes. “I am definitely getting that lock on my bedroom door.”

            The others all laughed at that. Harry noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he looked out the front window of the restaurant.

            “Uh-oh,” Harry whispered to Blaise.

            Blaise turned and saw Draco just before he Apparated away.

            “I’m sorry, Blaise,” Harry said, squeezing Blaise. He started to drop his arm, but Blaise leaned into him a bit and he left it in place.

            “It’s alright. He made it clear long before we made it to the bedroom that I was just a one night affair,” Blaise whispered.

            “Blaise?” Remus asked in concern.

            “You okay, mate?” George asked.

            Blaise looked back to the group he was standing with. Harry was looking at him sympathetically and the other three were looking at him in concern. Blaise blinked rapidly. He wasn’t used to being part of a group that was so open or so…caring.

            He felt a little guilty, but…Weasley and Granger betraying Harry was the best thing that had ever happened to Blaise. In less than a week, Blaise felt closer to Harry than he did to any of his former so-called friends. Being friends with Harry was a strange mixture of sharing confidences and teasing.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” Blaise said. He searched for something to say, a way to change the subject. “Oh. Harry you forgot to tell them about the Fidelius charm you want to place on the house before we move in.”

            Fred and George looked sad at that and Remus looked curious. Harry nodded.

            “Yes. I thought it would be a good idea. I…didn’t want certain people just dropping in like they used to,” Harry said. “As soon as the charm is in place I will get in touch so you can still visit if you want.”

            “Or, you know, if you want to drop in and help us clean up,” Blaise said, trying to regain the light mood from earlier.

            The group shared a laugh before going their separate ways.

**************************************

            Draco stormed into Malfoy Manor. He started to go upstairs, but the sound of voices stopped him. He marched over to the study door and jerked it open. When the older men inside turned to look at him, Draco said, “If you want to find Harry, ask the Weasley twins or Professor Lupin.”

            With that, Draco turned and went up to his room. He had just reached his door when he remembered his mother would be waiting for him to meet her. He went back downstairs and quickly sent off a short note before heading back upstairs.

            Finally reaching his room, Draco threw himself down on his bed and buried his face in his pillow.


	7. Plans

            A few days later, Harry and Blaise sat down for dinner in the alcove at the Zabini Estate. As had been the case for the last few days, Victoria Zabini did not join them.

            “So, Blaise, did you ever find out why your mother came home early?” Harry asked.

            Blaise grimace. “Yeah. She said she came home to make preparations for being a widow for the sixth time.”

            Harry’s eyes widened. “What? What happened to her husband?”

            “Well, she seems to think he doesn’t have much longer to live. I asked what happened but she said something about him catching something from the witch he decided to sleep with while they were in Italy and I decided I really didn’t want to know any more.”

            Harry grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. No wonder the woman has a jaded opinion of men.”

            Blaise nodded.

            Harry frowned. “Are you sure she doesn’t mind that I’m staying here?”

            Blaise nodded again. “She doesn’t mind. She actually rather likes you.”

            Harry blinked. “How can you tell? I think I’ve only seen her twice since she’s been back and only for a few minutes each time. I figured she was going out of her way to avoid me.”

            Blaise frowned. “Why would you think that?”

            Harry gestured around the table.

            “Oh.” Blaise shrugged. “She’s been going to visit Narcissa Malfoy at Flower Lane.”

            “Flower Lane?”

            “That’s the name of the manor Narcissa has been living in since she and Lucius filed for divorce just after the Dark Lord was defeated.”

            “That must be hard for Draco.”

            “Yeah, Draco was really upset last month when the divorce was finalized.”

            Deciding a change of subject was called for, Harry asked, “So, now that the Fidelius charm is finally in place, do you want to let your mother know where to find you when you move out?”

            “If you don’t mind.”

            Harry rolled his eyes. “Blaise.”

            Blaise chuckled. “I know, I know. It’s my place too.” Harry had told him that often over the past few days.

            Harry nodded. Just then a house elf appeared and served dinner.

            Blaise moaned at his first bite. “God, Harry. I think you are going to have to do all of the cooking when we move into Number 12. This is delicious!”

            Harry laughed. “Well, with as many meals as we have set aside with the stasis charm on them, even if we only take the successful attempts at learning to cook we won’t have to cook for about a month!”

            Blaise shook his head. “Seriously, though, Harry. This is really good. Probably even better than we had a that new restaurant in Diagon Alley several days ago.”

            Harry shrugged. “I like to cook.”

            They ate in silence for a while.

            “Hey, Harry,” Blaise said, frowning.

            Harry looked up and gave him a curious look.

            “You like to cook? A lot?”

            “Yeah. I really enjoy it. Why?”

            “Well, I was just thinking. You said you have no intentions of becoming an Auror. What are you going to do?”

            “I have no idea,” Harry said and then sighed. “I have enough money that I don’t ever have to work if I don’t want to, but what would I do with all the free time? Besides, I like to feel useful.”

            Blaise nodded. “Same here. I don’t ever have to work, but just sitting around doing nothing doesn’t really appeal to me.”

            “So, what does this have to do with my cooking?”

            “Well, I was thinking. What if we opened a restaurant? You could do the cooking and I could take care of the business side of things. I’ve always been pretty good at that kind of thing. We could work on a business plan while we go through school so by the time we are ready to open our own business we will be prepared,” Blaise said.

            Harry thought about it for a while. Then he nodded. “That sounds good actually. We can both work on business degrees so I can help with some of that too. I can also take the time to learn much more about cooking.”

            Blaise nodded. “It will also give us time to decide if it’s really something we want to do before we put any money into opening up our own business.”

            Harry frowned. “I think we are too late to apply at universities for this coming up school year, but that may be a good thing. It will give us time to get the house set up and give us a chance to look around and choose the best school.”

            “That reminds me,” Blaise said. “Now that the Fidelius charm is in place, we won’t be able to have the new furniture delivered to the house. Do you think Fred and George will mind helping us?”

            Harry shook his head.

            They spent the rest of the meal going over what still needed to be done to Number 12 before they could move in.

**********************************

            At the same time at Malfoy Manor, Severus and Lucius were having a heated discussion in the study.

            “I still think if you had just used _Legilimens_ on them-” Lucius said.

            Severus shook his head. “Do you think Harry would have forgiven us for that? The Weasley twins stood by him after his best friends betrayed him and he has always been very protective of his friends. What else did you say Draco told you?”

            “He just said he saw Harry at a restaurant with Lupin and the Weasley twins,” Lucius said, pouring them both brandy.

            “Well,” Severus said, accepting the glass Lucius handed to him, “They might not be willing to tell us where Harry is, but perhaps they will show us.”

            Lucius raised an eyebrow at him.

            “Lucius, as long as we have been spies, do you really think we would have any trouble following any of those three? Especially since they won’t even suspect anything?”

            Lucius looked thoughtful. “Perhaps…”

*************************************

            Draco, at that moment, was sitting down to dinner at Flower Lane with his mother.

            “Was that Mrs. Zabini I saw leaving, Mother?” Draco asked.

            “Yes. She was supposed to be in Italy for a while, but she decided to come back early,” Narcissa said. “She told me she was quite surprised to come home and find Blaise with Harry Potter.” She gave a small, secretive smile.

            Draco nearly choked on his dinner. “Harry Potter?”

            “Mm-hm.” She nodded. “I wanted to tell her, but I thought Blaise might want to make the announcement himself,” she said, more to herself than to Draco.

            “Tell her what?” Draco asked.

            “Oh, that’s right! I was going to tell you but you didn’t make it to dinner that night. Well, when I arrived at the restaurant where we had agreed to meet, I saw Blaise with Harry Potter, the Weasley twins and Remus Lupin. I guess they had just finished dinner. Anyway, I overheard them talking. It seems Blaise is engaged to Harry Potter!” She smiled brightly.

            Draco paled.

            Narcissa noticed and gave him a sympathetic look and reached over and patted his hand. “I know you have always been close friends with Blaise and you have a…complicated history with Harry, but I thought you had started getting along much better since he started training with the Slytherins a few years ago.”

            Draco gave his mother a weak smile. “Yes, you’re right. I just thought Blaise might have told me himself.”

            “Oh.” Narcissa smiled apologetically. “He might be planning to. I hadn’t meant to ruin the surprise.”

            Draco nodded and looked down at his plate miserably.

            Trying to change the subject, Narcissa said, “Well, how much longer until I can expect you to bring home a lovely young witch?”

            Draco tried to hide his wince, but Narcissa was his mother and she knew him far too well to miss it.

            “Draco?” she asked in concern.

            “Ah, probably not for a while. I’m not really seeing anyone right now.”

            “But you were.” Narcissa made it a statement.

            Draco grimaced and toyed with his food.

            “Well,” Narcissa said, again trying to change the subject. “How is your father doing?”

            Draco wanted to groan and bury his face in his hands. Instead he said, calmly, “He has been spending a lot of time with Severus lately.”

            Narcissa frowned. Draco used to call the older man ‘Uncle’ Severus. She hesitated to ask what had brought about the change, however. She had been trying to get away from unpleasant topics.

            Draco for his part simply couldn’t bring himself to continue calling the man ‘Uncle’ after learning the man had slept with his father. He cleared his throat and tried to find a pleasant topic of conversation. His mother had been rather depressed since the divorce and he was angry with himself for ruining the good mood she had been in when he had first arrived.


	8. Moving

            “Well,” Harry said, panting. “It’s up to you. If you are serious about wanting to get out of that house and don’t mind sharing a room, we can move in tomorrow. Fred and George will be by first thing in the morning with the new furniture. That would leave you with tonight to pack up some things and we could be staying here tomorrow night.”

            “Actually, I have been spending a couple hours before going to bed each night packing. I will leave most of my stuff at my mother’s house until we finish with this place, but I’m more than ready to move in here. Especially now that my mom is back.” Blaise wiped the sweat from his forehead.

            They had wiped down the entire kitchen, the bathroom they had fixed up and this bedroom. They had plans to replace the appliances once they had managed to finish cleaning up the house. They had emptied the bedroom they had decided to clean of all of the furniture and had ordered new furniture.

            “Oh,” Harry said.

            “What?” Blaise asked, looking at him.

            Harry bit his lip. “Well, we decided to clean the master bedroom first because it was the biggest and would give us the most room if we decided to share, but we forgot to consider that when we went to buy the new furniture.”

            “And we only bought one bed,” Blaise said, realizing what Harry was saying.

            Harry nodded. “A huge bed, but only one bed. Of course, if you think you can trust me,” Harry gave a playful leer, “we could always share.”

            Blaise rolled his eyes. “That bed could fit a Quidditch team in it. If it means getting away from my mother, I’m all for it. But if you snore or steal the covers, I won’t hesitate to hex you.”

            Harry laughed. “We have a strange relationship going on, Blaise. After just a few hours of tea we agreed to move in together. Lunch with my surrogate father had you talking about marriage, but just before we left the restaurant you said you were going to put a lock on your bedroom door to keep me out. And now you are eagerly jumping at the chance to share not only a bedroom, but a bed as well.”

************************************

            Harry and Blaise met Fred and George in the living room of Number 12.

            “Oi! I thought you said you had only bought furniture for one room!” Fred said as he and George Apparated in holding several bags each. Even with the items shrunk down, they were going to have to make a couple more trips.

            “We did,” Harry said, taking the bags George carried while Blaise took the bags Fred had. “We also bought all of the necessary accessories. Sheets, pillows, blankets, lamps.”

            Fred and George shared a look.

            “Sheets, pillows, and blankets?” Fred asked.

            “Just which room did you buy furniture for?” George asked.

            “This is for the master bedroom. We didn’t have anywhere to keep the other stuff so we left it to be picked up with the furniture.” Harry shrugged.

            “If you go with us, we could get everything else in one go and then we can all help put the furniture together,” George suggested.

            It was a reasonable suggestion and soon the four were upstairs arranging the furniture.

            “So, how soon are you two planning on moving in?” Fred asked as they put the finishing touches in place.

            “Tonight,” Harry said. “After we have lunch with you, Blaise and I are going to move in here.”

            Fred and George shared a look and came to the conclusion that Remus still held after that lunch a couple weeks ago. They were certain more than just friendship was going on between these two. Fred and George certainly did not fail to notice that there was only one very large bed in the room. Nor did they miss the way Blaise had blushed and turned his back when Harry had made his announcement.

            They were tempted to tease the two younger men, but they both thought that if there was more than going on then Harry deserved to be left alone. After what Ron and Hermione did, the twins were not about to make things difficult for Harry.

            Instead, they brought up something they felt Harry should be made aware of.

            “Harry, you’ll never guess who stopped by our store,” George said.

            Harry gave him a curious look. Blaise also turned around, curious.

            “Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy,” Fred said.

            “Oh?” Harry asked, trying to be casual.

            The twins noticed Harry paled at their news and decided they had definitely been right in refusing to tell the two Slytherins where Harry was.

            Blaise turned his back to hide his shock from the others. He knew from the way Harry had talked that he was interested in both of the older men. As he and Draco had left the party before Harry, he hadn’t seen who Harry had left with. He had assumed, though, that Harry had only finally gotten to spend the night with Lucius Malfoy since Harry had been sneaking out of Malfoy Manor.

            “Shock of our lives, it was,” George said, trying to lighten the mood.

            “Tried to get them to buy a pink Pygmy Puff, but they wouldn’t go for it,” Fred said mournfully.

            Harry gave a weak laugh at the thought of either man with a pink anything, much less one of the little furry creatures sold in Fred and George’s store.

            Fred and George moved on to sharing other humorous stories from their shop.

            Soon the room was finished. After taking a moment to admire their work, the group headed off to eat lunch.

*******************************

            Draco took a deep breath and knocked. It had taken him a couple weeks after hearing about Blaise’s engagement, but he couldn’t stand not knowing if his mother was right. So here he was, prepared to ask Blaise himself. Ask if Blaise had really agreed to marry, or worse proposed to, Harry Potter less than a week after their night together.

            Draco had been to Blaise’s house often enough to not be surprise when Blaise’s mother answered the door.

            “Good morning, Mrs. Zabini. Is Blaise home?” Draco asked politely.

            She looked him over coldly as she answered. “No.”

            Draco frowned. “Do you know when he will be back?”

            “He won’t be coming back.”

            “What?” Draco asked, stunned.

            The elegant woman raised an eyebrow. “Blaise moved out yesterday.”

            “He moved out?” Draco felt like he was going to be sick as a feeling of dread crept over him.

            “Yes. He and Harry got a house together in London.”

            “Harry?” _Three weeks. Only three weeks since our night together and he is engaged to and living with Harry Potter._ Draco still dreamed every night about Blaise. He couldn’t believe Blaise had already moved on. And with Harry Potter of all people.

            The woman looked at him as if he were being deliberately slow. “Harry Potter. They’ve been together for weeks now. At least as far as I know.”

            “I see. Thank you,” Draco said.

            The woman simply slammed the door in his face. She had never really liked him. Victoria Zabini was far from stupid. She knew from the way her son looked at the Malfoy heir that there was more than lust between them, at least on Blaise’s side. However, she had always felt Blaise had made a mistake in setting his sights on the blond.

            Her son wanted to find love and have a family. That blond boy was far too fickle to be what Blaise wanted. Now if there was one man who she felt might be able to make her son happy, it was Harry Potter. Potter had proved himself to be capable of a great deal of loyalty and, in her opinion, if Blaise were ever going to find a man who would remain faithful it would be Potter. If her son had set his sights on Potter and managed to actually get his hands on the Gryffindor, she was going to do anything she could to help him keep the green-eyed young man.

**********************************

            That same morning, Harry woke feeling warm. Still half asleep, he smiled sleepily and tried to figure out if it was Severus or Lucius who was still in bed with him, pressed up against his back.

            A softly groaned, “Draco,” had his eyes snapping open. Looking around the room and recognizing the newly remodeled master bedroom at Grimmauld Place, Harry remembered who he was in bed with.  When his bedmate’s hand started wandering, Harry quickly grabbed it and said, “Blaise!”

            Harry felt the other man jerk behind him. “Wha-? Harry? Oh, hell. I’m sorry,” Blaise muttered as he moved away and sat up.

            Harry sat up as well. “No problem. You weren’t the only one who thought he was in bed with someone else at first.” Harry gave a wistful smile.

            Blaise knew it wasn’t any of his business and he had told himself he wouldn’t ask, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Both of them, Harry? Seriously?”

            Harry blushed. “What?”

            “You slept with both of them? Severus Snape _and_ Lucius Malfoy? I mean, I knew you had been with Lucius as we sneaked out of Malfoy Manor together, but when did you get with Professor Snape?” Blaise asked curiously.

            Harry blushed a deeper shade of red. “Ah, between us?”

            Blaise nodded.

            Harry blushed brighter. “It wasn’t only Lucius I had left in bed when I sneaked out.”

            “Damn, Harry,” Blaise said, seriously impressed.

            Harry grinned, despite his blush. “Can you think of a better way to lose your virginity?”

            “You lost-? To _two_ men? To _Severus Snape_ and _Lucius Malfoy_?! At the _same time_? ” Blaise asked in awe. “Harry, you are a sex **god**!”

            Harry laughed. “Yeah, right. But feel free to spread that particular rumor around as much as you want.”

            Blaise snorted. “Yeah, like the Weasley twins need any more reasons to think maybe Remus was right about overhearing us talking about marriage.”

            Harry grinned. “I wonder what Remus is going to say the next time we see him.”

            Blaise groaned. Harry laughed and got up to get dressed.

************************************

            When Draco arrived back at Malfoy Manor, he decided he wasn’t ready to risk meeting up with his father or Severus so he turned towards the gardens.

            The gardens of Malfoy Manor were extensive. Draco’s mother had always loved flowers. Flower Lane was so named because of the multitude of flowers lining the lane leading up to the house that bloomed year round thanks to the loving attention of a skilled Herbologist.

            As he strolled along the paths of the garden, Draco turned his thought to his parents. When his parents had divorced, Draco had been shocked to learn his father was gay. He had been angry, at both his father and himself, for being worried about trying to tell his parents he was gay.

            Before he could come out to his parents, though, he had realized how miserable his mother was. She had hidden it pretty well, he thought, but on the same day he had found out his father was gay, he had caught his mother crying. Not just crying, but sobbing as if she was heart broken. And now, the only time she seemed to manage to shake off her depressed mood was when she talked about how she couldn’t wait for him to bring home a pretty young witch.

            Draco was used to trying to live up to his father’s expectations, but he couldn’t remember the last time his mother had ever wanted anything from him. She had always been encouraging and supporting. He knew she would want him to be happy, but she really seemed to have her heart set on his marrying a witch. And it wasn’t just his imagination that she was emphasizing _witch_. She had made several not-so-subtle hints that she fully expected him to marry a _witch_.

            Draco sighed and dropped down on one of the stone benches placed throughout the garden.

*************************************

            After getting dressed, Harry and Blaise talked about which bedroom to start on next. Blaise insisted that Harry keep the master bedroom as he owned the house. He had to argue a bit, but finally he had gotten Harry to agree. After looking at all of the other bedrooms, Blaise decided on one upstairs and down the hall from Harry.

            Harry laughed. “Are we back to you planning on putting a lock on your bedroom door, Blaise?”

            Blaise snorted. “This one has a lot of windows and has a great view. It will help counteract some of the creepiness of this house while we are cleaning it up. Besides, it’s one of the few with its own bathroom.”

            Harry nodded. They still had only the one bathroom on the first floor in working order. The bathroom connected to the master bedroom was huge and would need a lot of work. Harry wanted to replace a lot of the appliances and fixtures, so he figured it could wait until they had cleaned the rest of the house up a bit first.

            “Well, we are going to have to get more cleaning supplies,” Harry said. “We used up the last of the cleaner on the kitchen.”

            As they walked towards the front door, Harry tip-toed past the dusty curtain as usual, but Blaise stopped. Harry turned when he realized Blaise had stopped.

            Blaise was getting tired of having to sneak past this portrait. Deciding there was no better time to try to get the painting down than just before they left for a few hours (in case it didn’t work), Blaise pulled out his wand.

            Harry just watched as Blaise walked over and jerked the dusty curtain aside. Immediately the usually screaming and screeching started up. Blaise just ignored it and started casting spells. The first four didn’t work.

            Harry sighed, disappointed, but not really surprised. Blaise frowned and tried one last spell. The screaming increased in volume as the painting suddenly crashed to the floor. Satisfied, Blaise used another spell that Harry was unfamiliar with and sent the painting up to the attic.

            Harry savored the silence for a moment before gasping, “Oh my god! You did it!”

            Suddenly, Harry grinned and threw his arms around Blaise and kissed his cheek. “You did it!” Harry laughed and squeezed Blaise. He let go and stepped back, but grabbed Blaise’s hand. “Come on! Forget cleaning supplies, we are going out to celebrate!”

            Bemused, Blaise let Harry drag him off.


	9. Slytherins' Troubles

            Lucius and Severus were extremely frustrated. A solid _three weeks_ had passed since they had had Harry in bed with them and they had yet to find him.

            As they stalked down the sidewalk towards the restaurant the Weasley twins and Lupin planned to visit that evening for dinner, people took one look at the expressions on their faces and quickly moved out of their way.

            After turning the last corner, the two Slytherins stopped, stunned.

            Across the street, coming out of the restaurant Lucius and Severus had been looking for, was Harry and Blaise Zabini.

            “Oh my god!” Harry groaned, nearly bouncing with excitement. “I still can’t believe-!” Suddenly, much to the displeasure of the two men watching, Harry turned and threw his arms around Blaise.

            “Harry!” Blaise said in exasperation.

            Harry laughed and pulled away. “I know, I know.” He grinned wickedly and reached over and grabbed Blaise’s hand. “Let’s continue the celebration at home!”

            Before Severus or Lucius could take more than a single step, or pull out their wands, the two younger men Apparated away.

            “What the hell was that?!” Severus growled.

            “I don’t know. Why don’t we see if we can find Draco. He has always been close with Blaise,” Lucius said dangerously as both men continued to glare at the spot where the two younger men had been.

*************************************

            Draco sighed and finally got up to go inside. He couldn’t sit out in the garden forever. He wandered back through the garden and then up the steps to the front door. Stepping inside, Draco stopped short when he found himself confronted with two very angry men.

            Severus and Lucius glared at him as he shut the door behind him.

            Draco looked back and forth between them and said nothing, just waited.

            “Draco. Where’s Blaise?” Lucius asked.

            Draco winced. “Oh. So you know.”

            “Know what?” Severus growled.

            “And why didn’t you tell us?” Lucius asked coldly.

            Draco winced again. He knew they weren’t going to want to hear what he had to say anymore than he had wanted to hear it. “I just stopped by the Zabini Estate to see Blaise. His mother met me and told me he had moved out yesterday.”

            “He moved out,” Lucius said neutrally.

            Draco sighed. “His mother said he and Harry have a house in London. She also said they have…been together for weeks now.” Draco took a deep breath, readying himself to share the hardest part, to tell them about the engagement.

            Before Draco could say anything more, Severus and Lucius shared a look and Severus said, “Grimmauld Place is in London.”

            The two men turned and left before Draco could stop them.

************************************

            Arriving in London, Severus and Lucius found themselves facing yet another obstacle.

            “He must have used a Fidelius charm,” Severus snapped.

            “Then we need to get back to that restaurant in Diagon Alley,” Lucius said coldly.

            It was only years of habit stemming from their experience as spies that kept them seemingly calm and prevented them from letting loose a long string of expletives.

            Once at the restaurant, Lucius easily made arrangements for them to be seated at a table that would allow them to listen in on the conversation that would be taking place at the table reserved by the Weasley twins and Lupin.

            Once seated and drinks brought, Lucius said, “I believe we may be missing something. There is no doubt that Harry was telling the truth about his…innocent state. How, then, is he now living with Blaise Zabini? And how is it possible that they have been seeing each other for _weeks_ when it has only been three weeks since the party?”

            “And what exactly was it that we saw? What ‘celebration’ could they be continuing ‘at home?’?” Severus asked.

            “Perhaps we will soon find out,” Lucius said nodding in the direction of the group that had just arrived.

            Severus watched as the three men they were waiting for arrived.

**********************************

            Fred and George sat down across from Remus. While waiting for their table, the twins had told Remus of Harry and Blaise’s living arrangement. They had also told him of the visit they had received from Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy and Harry’s reaction to the news. They all agreed that it was suspicious.

            “Well,” Remus said,  continuing the conversation that had been interrupted when they had been told their table was ready and picking up his menu, “there’s not much we can do on that count, unless Harry decides to come to us. We will simply have to make it clear to him that _we_ will be there for him and he can count on us if he ever needs anything.”

            The twins nodded.

            Fred grinned. “Like a bachelor party.”

            “I wonder when they will set a date,” George said, grinning.

            Remus laughed. “Well, if I’m walking Harry down the aisle, which of you are going to be his best man?”

            As the twins got into a cheerful argument over who Harry would choose for his best man, Severus and Lucius sat at their table, frozen. They listened, horrified as the group continued to talk about the apparently impending wedding between Harry and Blaise.

            “I suppose that tells us what they were celebrating,” Lucius said coldly.

            “That only makes it more suspicious, Lucius,” Severus said. “If we found it difficult to believe that they could be moving in together after only three weeks after the party, it is even more difficult to believe they are marrying.”

            Their discussion halted as the other three men rose from their table.

            “We were thinking of having them both come to the shop in the next few days,” Fred said.

            “Maybe see if we can find out what they want for a wedding present,” George said.

            Lucius and Severus exchanged a look as the three laughing men left.

*********************************

            Two days later, Severus and Lucius walked into the Weasley twins’ shop. They were using Polyjuice to prevent the Gryffindors from recognizing them. They wandered around for several minutes pretending to look at the merchandise.

            They stopped behind a row of shelves when they heard two shop girls talking and they caught Harry’s name.

            “Harry Potter? You mean, Mr. and Mr. Weasley’s friend? The really cute one with those green eyes?”

            “Yeah, that’s the one.”

            Severus and Lucius heard a sigh.

            “I still can’t believe he’s gay. It’s such a shame.”

            There was a giggle.

            “You’re just mad you can’t flirt with him anymore.”

            Both men glared at the shelves between them and the girls.

            “Oh, shut up! What were you saying, anyway?”

            “Oh, well, I heard Mr. and Mr. Weasley talking about him yesterday. You are never going to believe what they said!”

            “Oh, are you talking about his engagement to the Zabini heir?”

            “No! Oh, this is even better!”

            “Well, what then!”

            Lucius and Severus had to lean closer to the shelves to hear as the girl dropped her voice to a whisper.

            “I heard that they are rushing to get married because…”

            “Why?!” the other girl asked when the girl paused too long.

            “I heard that they are getting married because Harry’s pregnant!”

            “Oh my gosh! Seriously?! Why would they get pregnant so young?”

            “I heard it was an unplanned pregnancy.”

            There was a gasp. “Oh! He is powerful enough to have a natural pregnancy. So they are going to get married because Zabini got him pregnant? Well, at least Zabini stepped up. My cousin …”

            The two men stopped listening. They were staring at each other in shock. The girl was right. Harry _was_ powerful enough for a natural pregnancy.

            “So, that’s why Harry got together with Blaise so quickly,” Lucius breathed, still shocked.

            “And after all of the training we gave him, he would be able to sense the fluctuations in his magic that would come with a pregnancy. He might even have realized before he left us,” Severus said.

            “It would certainly explain the un-Gryffindor-like sneaking out on us,” Lucius said.

            “Yes and-” Severus broke off as they caught sight of the Weasley twins.

            “I can’t believe they refused to take a break,” Fred said, frowning.

            “Well, at least they did agree to stop by the store once they finish getting the house into shape,” George said. “Sooner if they run out of cleaning supplies again.”

            Lucius made a frustrated sound. Severus glared at the redheads. Now that they knew that Harry was pregnant, they were even more determined to find him.

***********************************

            Draco left the restaurant with his mother. After she had Apparated away, he decided to walk for a bit. He walked down the sidewalk along Diagon Alley.

            His mother had been after him again, asking if he was going to make up with his ex- _girlfriend_ or if he had met someone new. He knew she meant well, but it made him think of Blaise.

            Draco sighed and looked up. He stopped when the very man he had been thinking about came out of a store just a few feet away. Draco watched as Blaise turned in his direction, looking through a bag he carried.

            Draco stopped, frozen in place at the sight of the other man.

            Blaise just kept walking towards him, mumbling under his breath.

            “Harry just had to-umph!” Blaise walked right into Draco.

            Draco reached out and grabbed Blaise and prevented him from falling.

            Blaise looked up to apologize, but he stopped, shocked. “Draco!”

            “Hello, Blaise,” Draco said.

            Blaise turned his head and started to step out of Draco’s arms. Draco tightened his hold.

            “Blaise, can we talk?” Draco asked. “Why don’t you come back to Malfoy Manor with me?”

            Blaise looked back at Draco. He recognized the look in the other wizard’s eyes and knew if he agreed that very little talking would take place.

            “Alright,” Blaise said quietly. He had found that Harry was right. Some memories are worth the pain.

*********************************

            Back in Draco’s bedroom at Malfoy Manor, lying on the bed next to Draco, Blaise moaned as he kissed the blond.

            They were still fully dressed, though they had lost their shoes. He felt Draco start to work on the buttons on his shirt as he ran a hand down Draco’s side. Draco moaned and pressed closer.

            Blaise broke the kiss to groan as he felt Draco’s hands on his bare chest. Draco took advantage of this and pushed the dark-haired wizard onto his back and then straddled him.

            Blaise reached up and pulled Draco down into another kiss. Draco wiggled and ground their erections together through their clothes. Blaise threw his head back and groaned again.

            Denied Blaise’s lips, Draco kissed his way down Blaise’s neck and then back up to his ear. Blaise loved it when his ears were nibbled.

            Draco felt a flash of jealousy as he thought about Harry nibbling on Blaise’s ears. He grabbed Blaise’s wrists and pinned them to the bed beside his head and then nibbled on Blaise’s ear. When Blaise moaned, Draco whispered fiercely, “You’re mine.”

            Blaise froze. Draco went to nibble on his ear again, but Blaise jerked his head to the side.

            “How long?” Blaise asked.

            Draco pulled back and frowned. “What?”

            Blaise sat up and pushed Draco off of him. “How long will I be yours? Until you find the perfect pureblood _woman_ to marry?!” Blaise asked angrily.

            “Blaise-” Draco started, torn.

            Blaise got off the bed and started to button his shirt back up. “God, I can’t believe how stupid I was.”

            Draco got off the bed and stood facing Blaise. “So, what? Are you going to go home and fuck _Harry Potter_?”

            Blaise bent over and grabbed his shoes, shoving them onto his feet. “At least **he** won’t throw me over for someone else. _Harry_ doesn’t give a _fuck_ what other people think. _Harry_ would be happy to marry me and have kids with _me_!”

            Blaise brushed past Draco and stormed out of the room.

***********************************

            After he had Apparated back to Number 12, Blaise stood in the library just trying to breath. He felt like red hot iron bands were wound tightly around his chest.

            “Hey, you’re back! I was starting to get worried. What took you so long?” Harry asked, coming into the room. He took one look at the expression on Blaise’s face and tugged the Slytherin over to the sofa. Once they were seated, Harry put his arm around Blaise. “Blaise?”

            “I ran into Draco,” Blaise said.

            “Oh,” Harry said softly, understanding. “What happened?”

            Blaise swallowed. He didn’t want to tell Harry how stupid he had been, but he couldn’t seem to stop the words from flowing out of his mouth. “I went home with him. I just…I was so stupid!”

            “No, you weren’t,” Harry said. “You just wanted one more memory.”

            Blaise nodded. “Then, he said I was _his_ and I just…I lost it. I asked him how long I would be his, asked him if I was just his until he found the woman he wanted to marry. He got mad and asked if I was going home to…ah, be with you.”

            Harry’s brows rose as Blaise blushed and hesitated. “And what did you say?”

            Blaise mumbled, “I told him that at least you would be happy to marry me and to have kids with me.”

            “Damn right!” Harry said. “You are a wonderful guy.”

            Blaise snorted and turned and rested his head on Harry’s shoulder.

            Harry held Blaise for a couple of hours before they went upstairs. In bed, Harry held Blaise through the night. They both pretended it was sweat that left Harry’s shoulder wet.


	10. Confusion

            It was five full weeks after the party when Severus and Lucius saw Lupin walk into the Weasley twins’ shop. As they had been doing everyday for the past two weeks, they were wandering around the shop disguised by Polyjuice. They moved closer but only managed to overhear the last few sentences of his conversation with the twins.

            “Well, I have plans to go see Harry at Grimmauld Place in a few days, so I will definitely see for myself how much they have managed to get done,” Remus said as he walked towards the exit.

            A determined look came to the faces of both Slytherins.

            “I believe I have an idea, Lucius,” Severus said.

*********************************

            It was actually a week before Remus finally headed off to see Harry and Blaise at Grimmauld Place. After a quick stop at the twins’ shop, Remus headed to a quiet spot to Apparate away from Diagon Alley. Just before he Apparated, he felt hands grab onto each of his arms.

            Arriving in the living room of Number 12, Remus jerked his arms free of the hands holding him, spun around and pulled out his wand, aiming for whoever had followed him.

            He blinked in surprise when he found himself facing Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Remembering what the twins had said about Harry’s reaction to the news that these two men had stopped by the twins’ shop, he glared and held his wand on them.

            “Hey, Remus! I thought-” Blaise came into the room grinning, but stopped as he caught sight of the unexpected visitors. He gaped at the two men in shock.

            “What do you think you are doing?” Remus demanded.

            Lucius raised an eyebrow. “We are dropping in to visit Harry.”

            At that moment, the sound of Harry’s voice preceded him into the room. “Hey, Blaise! The new bed is really comfortable. Not quite as comfortable as the one we shared, but-” Harry broke off and stared in shock at the scene in the living room.

            Lucius and Severus were glaring at Blaise in a way that would have been harmful to his health had looks any physical impact. Blaise already looked a bit pained. And Remus was glaring at Severus and Lucius and he had his wand pointed at the two men.

            Harry swallowed and walked over to where Remus and Blaise were standing next to each other. “Uh, Remus? What’s going on?” he asked.

            “These two grabbed me just as I was Apparating away from Diagon Alley,” Remus said.

            “We have been trying to get in touch with you for nearly two months now, Harry,” Lucius said.

            “Oh?” Harry asked, shooting Blaise a slightly pleading look.

            Blaise reached out and grabbed Remus’ arm and pulled gently until he lowered his wand. “Remus, would you mind going to the kitchen to fix some tea? Harry and I will join you in a bit.”

            Remus’ brows rose, but he had been the one to tell the twins that it should be Harry’s choice to come to them about whatever was going on with these two. “If you’re sure, Harry?”

            Harry nodded.

            The two younger men watched him leave. The two older men watched the younger men.

            Harry turned back to Severus and Lucius, nervous.

            “Sneaking out in the middle of the night? Hiding from us? That’s not very Gryffindor, Harry,” Severus said.

            Harry frowned. “Hiding? I wasn’t hiding.”

            “Oh?” Lucius asked. “Then perhaps you could tell us where you have been. We had stopped by Grimmauld several times the first few days after the party.”

            “We had been certain you wouldn’t have returned to the Burrow,” Severus added.

            Harry grimaced. “I stopped by the Burrow to get my things and then stayed a night at the Leaky Cauldron. After that I was staying with Blaise,” Harry said. “I really hadn’t intended to hide. I just wasn’t looking forward to staying here before this place was cleaned up a bit.”

            The two men pointedly looked around the living room they were standing in. Harry and Blaise had not yet managed to clean the room up.

            Harry shook his head. “I was staying with Blaise until his mother came home from Italy. When she came home early we moved up our move in date.”

            “And when, exactly, did you two decide to move in together?” Lucius drawled.

            “Well, we had talked a bit the night of the party,” Harry said. “And the next day we met for tea. I hadn’t wanted to live here on my own and Blaise wanted to move out of his mother’s house, so…” Harry shrugged.

            “Really. And when exactly did you two decide to get engaged?” Severus asked silkily.

            Harry gaped at him. “What?”

            “Was it before or after you realized you were pregnant?” Lucius asked smoothly.

            “What?!” Harry nearly shrieked.

            Blaise started inching towards the door. He was pretty sure Harry wasn’t pregnant. Blaise was certain that Harry would have told him if he was pregnant. He didn’t know where the two men had gotten that bit of information from, but he really hoped that they didn’t think _he_ had had anything to do with getting Harry pregnant. He didn’t think he would survive if that thought crossed their minds.

            “What the hell makes you think I’m _pregnant_?!” Harry demanded, bewildered.

            Blaise slipped out of the room while the two older men were focused on Harry. He shut the door behind him and stood in the hallway, thinking.

            “Blaise?” Remus asked. “You just left him in there alone with those two?!”

            Blaise didn’t look away from the door. He was keeping an eye on the door in case the two older men decided to come after him. “My mother once said that getting in the middle of a lovers’ quarrel was more dangerous than the Dark Lord at his worst,” he said absently.

            “Lovers’ quarrel?” Three voices shouted.

            Blaise turned and blinked at the sight of Fred and George standing in the hallway next to Remus. “When did you two get here?”

            “Remus firecalled us and told us what happened,” Fred said.

            “What the bloody hell do you mean, _a lovers’ quarrel_?” George asked.

            At that moment the door to the library opened. In the doorway was a very angry Harry Potter. “Perfect, you are already here. Fred, George why do people think I’m pregnant?” he asked in a soft, dangerous tone.

            Remus eyes went wide and then he glared over Harry’s shoulder at the two Slytherins and growled. “You’re pregnant?!”

            Harry glared at Remus. “No, I am not fucking pregnant! However, because of Fred and George there are several people under the impression that I am.”

            Fred and George gave Harry apologetic looks.

            “Harry…” Fred started.

            “It was probably the girls at the shop,” George said.

            “We were just joking about the wedding,” Fred said.

            “And made an offhand comment about it being a little suspicious that the two of you are marrying so young,” George said.

            Harry groaned. “So, you two were joking around, the girls that work for you overheard it and now people think I’m pregnant.”

            Harry sighed and shut the door again without waiting for a response.

            He turned to the two Slytherins waiting for him. “Well, as you heard, I am most certainly _not_ pregnant.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So if that’s the only reason you two are here-”

            “What do you mean, ‘if that’s the only reason we are here’?” Lucius demanded.

            Severus raised an eyebrow at Harry. “I believe we made it clear that we have been looking for you ever since we discovered you had decided to sneak out on us. It was only in our search that we had heard that you were pregnant.”

            “Now, perhaps you could explain why you would sneak out? Not very Gryffindor, Harry,” Lucius drawled.

            “Why were you looking for me?” Harry asked, honestly confused. “I was under the impression that it was a one time-” Harry rolled his eyes even as he blushed at the raised eyebrows the two men gave him. “One _night_ thing.”

            Both Slytherins glared at him.

            “Had you stayed for breakfast, you would know that we never intended to have only one night with you, Harry,” Lucius said.

            Harry stared at the men in shock.

            “We wanted to show you that it could work out quite well between the three of us before we brought up the idea of a relationship,” Severus said.

            “Relationship?” Harry said faintly.

            “A relationship,” Lucius said firmly as he walked up, wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled the younger man against his chest. Severus walked around and pressed against Harry’s back.

            “You had no objections to the three of us being together. You were quite enthusiastic as I recall,” Severus said.

            Harry found it hard to think with them pressed against him like that. His mind flashed back to that night, but he shook his head and focused on the present. He pushed the two older men away from him.

            “Wait!” Harry said. He put some distance between him and those wicked Slytherins. “You said something about a relationship. What, _exactly_ , did you mean by that?”

            Harry saw the expressions that came to their faces at his question and glared at them. They quickly changed their minds about how they were going to answer.

            “We mean exactly the same thing as anyone else,” Lucius said, confused about what Harry was asking.

            Severus, having had a little more experience with how Harry’s mind works, said, “When we say we want a relationship with you, we mean we want what any man wants with the person he is interested in. We mean dating and spending time together and everything else. It is simply that there are three of us rather than the usual two.”

            “So…you are asking me out?” Harry asked cautiously, his voice colored with a hint of disbelief.

            “We are,” Lucius and Severus said together.

            Harry looked at them for a moment. “Um. Okay,” Harry said, still having trouble believing these two men both wanted him and both wanted an actual relationship with him.

            “That rather lacked the enthusiasm you showed us the other night, Harry. Perhaps a little persuasion is in order,” Lucius said.

            Both men started towards Harry with a gleam in their eyes that made Harry’s jeans seem suddenly painfully tight. Harry held his hands up to hold them off.

            “Wait!” Both men stopped and frowned at him. “You said you wanted a relationship, not a fling. Unless what you really meant was that you wanted to have an affair?”

            Lucius glared and Severus scowled.

            “No, we are not interested in a mere affair,” Severus growled.

            Harry shivered at the sound of Severus’ dark voice. He hoped they didn’t notice and he rushed on in an attempt to distract them. “Then I think it would be a good idea to…work our way up to the, um, level of intimacy that we shared the night of the party.” When they looked at him in disbelief, he shifted uncomfortably. “I just want to be sure that there’s more to it than just,” Harry blushed, “sex.”

            Lucius and Severus were silent for a moment. Then Severus inclined his head once, sharply. Lucius said, “Very well.”

            Harry breathed a sigh of relief and gave the two men a bright smile.

            Just as affected by the sight as they had been the night of the party, Severus and Lucius both had to stop themselves from pouncing on Harry.

            In an effort to distract himself, Severus tried to think of a way to change the topic. Remembering what was said when he and Lucius had arrived, Severus suddenly scowled and asked darkly, “Harry, what did you mean when you said the new bed was not as comfortable as the one you had shared with Blaise?”


	11. Meeting the Family

            Harry opened the door to the library to see Blaise with his back pressed against one wall being grilled by three Gryffindors. Blaise was keeping his face expressionless and saying nothing.

            “Hey!” Harry said. “Back off! Geez. Let Blaise breathe.” He glared at Remus, Fred and George. They had the decency to look guilty.

            “Sorry, Blaise,” Fred and George said together.

            Remus grimaced. “I apologize as well, Blaise. I hope you know we are just worried about Harry and hadn’t meant to-”

            “Back him into a corner and interrogate him?” Harry cut in.

            The other Gryffindors winced.

            “Ah, yes. That,” Remus said and then cleared his throat.

            Blaise just nodded, still watching them warily.

            “Blaise? Could I talk to you for a moment?” Harry said.

            “We’ll just wait in the kitchen,” Remus said, patting Blaise on the shoulder as he walked by.

            Harry and Blaise watched the three Gryffindors head downstairs to the kitchen. When they were out of sight, Harry waited a bit longer until he heard the kitchen door close. He knew how good Remus’ hearing was. When they heard the kitchen door close, Harry turned to Blaise.

            “Sorry about that Blaise,” Harry said.

            Blaise shrugged. “Actually, it wasn’t so bad. I could tell they were just worried about you. I just wasn’t going to tell them anything because I didn’t know how much you wanted them to know.”

            Harry blushed a bit. “Not everything, that’s for sure,” he muttered.

            Blaise snickered. “Yeah, I figured that much.”

            “So, uh,” Harry said and then cleared his throat. “I was wondering…would you mind if we had them over for dinner tonight?”

            Blaise tilted his head. “Those two?” he asked nodding his head towards the library. “Or those three?” he asked nodding towards the stairs to the kitchen.

            “Um, both?”

            Blaise’s brows rose. “At the same time?”

            Harry blushed and nodded. “They asked me out,” Harry said shyly.

            Blaise’s eyes widened. “Both of them? Like, you would be _dating_ both of them?”

            Harry gave him a small grin and nodded.

            “Damn,” Blaise said. “Harry, you **are** a sex god!”

            Harry laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Like I said, feel free to spread that particular rumor around as much as you like.”

            Blaise rolled his eyes. “Yeah, if I’m ever feeling particularly suicidal, or maybe just masochistic, I’ll be sure to do that.”

            Harry laughed again. “So. Do you mind?”

            “What? Oh! No, I don’t mind,” Blaise said. He frowned. “You didn’t have to ask me, Harry.”

            Harry gave an exasperated sigh. “Of course I did! This is _our_ house. Besides, I want you there too.”

            Blaise shrugged. “Well, I don’t mind. But you are doing the cooking tonight!”

            Harry laughed. “Okay. Let me just go ask them if they want to stay.”

            Blaise frowned. “I thought you already did.”

            Harry shook his head. “I wasn’t going to ask anyone until I knew it was okay with you. Oh, would you go down and ask Remy and the twins if they want to stay for dinner?” Harry grinned. “If I’m cooking, you get to set the table.”

            Blaise nodded and went down to the kitchen while Harry turned back to the library. Harry hoped Severus and Lucius hadn’t heard him laughing and come to the conclusion that something was going on between him and Blaise after all. It had been a nightmare trying to explain the comments they had overheard when they had arrived. He still wasn’t sure they weren’t going to corner Blaise and dose him with Veritaserum or something just to be sure nothing had happened.

            Harry frowned when he walked in and saw the two older men standing close together and conversing in heated whispers. Were they planning something?

            Lucius looked up and caught sight of Harry. Severus saw Lucius’ look and turned to look at Harry as well. Harry blushed and gave them a sweet smile. Both men could practically _feel_ their possessiveness grow stronger.

            “Would you like to stay for dinner? I thought we could all talk,” Harry said.

            The two men exchanged a glance.

            “Dinner would be lovely,” Lucius said smoothly.

            “So it would,” Severus agreed.

*************************************

            Harry walked down to the kitchen with Severus and Lucius right behind him. Harry fought off a blush at the thought that they were staring at his ass. Really, with everything he had done with them he didn’t know how he could still blush so easily. He was going to have to work on that if they were going to start dating. It could get embarrassing, especially if they were to notice how often his thoughts strayed to things that made him blush when he was around them.

            Harry smiled at Remus and the twins as he walked in. He watched as they started to smile back and then, as they caught sight of the Slytherins walking in behind him, their smiles faded and they glared past him.

            “You didn’t tell them?” Harry asked Blaise.

            Blaise shrugged. “I didn’t know if they would be staying for sure. You didn’t tell _them_?” he asked. He had watched the looks of surprise and displeasure that had crossed the older Slytherins’ faces as they saw the group standing in the kitchen.

            “I told them I thought we should all talk,” Harry said. He smiled at Lucius and Severus. “Have a seat and I’ll get started.”

            Remus, Fred, George and Blaise sat on one side of the table. Severus and Lucius sat down on the other side of the table, leaving a seat between them for Harry. For a while the only sound in the room was the banging of pots and pans as Harry cooked.

            “So what exactly is going on here?” Remus asked.

            Harry kept his back to the others and hoped no one noticed his blush. He frantically tried to think of a way to explain the situation.

            “The night of the party Lucius and I expressed our interest in Harry. It seems, however, that he had not thought we were serious,” Severus said.

            “We have been trying to find Harry so that we could speak to him, but we hadn’t seen him since the night of the party,” Lucius said.

            “Which is why we invited ourselves over,” Severus said.

            Remus and the twins looked at the two men skeptically.

            “And why would you think Harry was pregnant if you had only spoken to him?” Remus asked with a glare.

            Lucius and Severus kept their faces impassive and said nothing. Harry hunched his shoulders a bit and kept his back to the others. He was sure his face was bright red.

            “I believe we covered that, Remus,” Harry said. “That particular rumor resulted from a joke between Fred and George that one of their shopgirls over heard.”

            “Did it occur to either of you that the reason it was so hard to find Harry was because he didn’t want to see you,” Remus said.

            “Remy, it wasn’t like that,” Harry said, frowning over his shoulder at the werewolf.

            Remus frowned back. “Really? That’s why you seemed so happy to hear that they stopped by Fred and George’s shop looking for you?”

            Harry turned back around and frowned at the vegetables he was chopping. “It wasn’t like that,” Harry said quietly.

            Severus and Lucius frowned at Harry’s back. They hadn’t known that Harry had known they were looking for him.

            “Then what was it like, Harry?” Remus asked, just trying to understand. He cared too much about Harry to let these two hurt him.

            Harry added the vegetables to the pan on the stove. “Like they said, I hadn’t thought they were serious when they said they were interested in me. I didn’t know why they would be looking for me.”

            “And now?” Remus asked, frowning at the two men sitting across the table from him. They glared back.

            “And now we’ve had a chance to talk,” Harry said, “and, uh…”

            “Harry has agreed to begin a relationship,” Lucius said.

            “With which one of you?” the twins asked together.

            “Both,” Severus and Lucius said together.

            The three Gryffindors at the table looked at the two older Slytherins in disbelief and then turned the look to Harry. Harry didn’t turn around, but he could feel their eyes on his back. He cleared his throat.

            “Ah, Lucius and Severus have asked me out and I said ‘yes,’” Harry said, stirring the ingredients in the pan.

            “They asked you out?” Remus asked, startled.

            “As in, you’ll be dating?” Fred asked.

            “Both of them? At the same time?” George asked.

            Harry cleared his throat again. “Um, yes.”

            There were a few minutes of strained silence as Remus and the twins adjusted to the idea of Harry dating both Slytherins. Harry struggled to think of something to say, but in the end he settled for, “Dinner’s ready!”

            When the food was on the table, Harry sat down between Severus and Lucius. Fred and George were the first to take a bite. The others only had their forks halfway to their mouths when the twins burst out, “Harry!”

            Harry jumped a little. “Yes?”

            “You cooked this?” Fred said in awe.

            “Yes,” Harry said, amused. They had been in the room when he had done so.

            “”You cook better than Mum!” George said in awe.

            Harry blinked and then smiled. “Yeah right. But thanks anyway.”

            The twins shook their heads. “We’re not kidding,” they said.

            By this point, the others had taken a bite of their food as well.

            “They’re right, Harry,” Remus said in surprise. “I’ve never tasted anything so good. It _is_ even better than Molly’s cooking.”

            “This is certainly restaurant quality, Harry,” Lucius said.

            Harry blushed and smiled brightly. “Blaise and I are actually planning to open up a restaurant together. We are going to look into universities and hopefully apply for next year. We’re going to get business degrees and I’m going to study up on cooking while we work on our degrees.”

            Remus smiled at Blaise. “That sounds wonderful.”

            “We’d certainly go to any restaurant where you were the chef!” George said, taking another bite of food and moaning in pleasure.

            “I don’t suppose you’d extend an invite to the next meal you cook?” Fred asked with puppy-dog eyes.

            Harry laughed. “How about an open invitation? You can come for any meals you feel like.”

            “What about me?” Remus asked.

            Harry laughed again. “The invitation was meant for you all.”

            “Just make sure you show up before we start cooking or you could end up stopping by on a night when I’ve cooked,” Blaise said with a grimace. “I’m up to about a half and half success rate. Sometimes, the food I cook is actually recognizable now.” He looked at others. “I certainly wouldn’t mind if you showed up to every meal, begging Harry to cook.”

            The Gryffindors all laughed. The two older Slytherins gave him an almost identical polite look with one eyebrow raised.

            “You know I don’t mind cooking, Blaise. I’d do it every night if you’d like,” Harry said.

            “I’d rather cook every now and then than have you suddenly decide you need a break from cooking for about a month or so,” Blaise said with a shudder.

            Harry laughed. “Well, if you agree to do the dishes when I cook, I’d call it even.”

            “Done!” Blaise said quickly, starting another round of laughter among the Gryffindors.

*************************************

            After dinner, while Harry was speaking privately to Blaise while the Slytherin washed the dishes, Remus, Fred and George cornered Severus and Lucius in the library.

            The Slytherins looked at the three Gryffindors warily. Remus gave them a smile that was all teeth and made him very much resemble the wolf he turned into on the night of the full moon.

            “So you want to date our Harry,” Remus said. “Well, let’s get something clear, shall we? If you hurt him, what we do to you will make you think fondly of the tortures that Voldemort performed on you.”

            “We have no intentions of hurting him,” Lucius said coldly.

            “We are quite sincere in our interest in Harry,” Severus said evenly.

            “Glad to hear that,” Fred said with a dark grin.

            “’Cause we’d hate to have to hurt you,” George said with a matching dark grin.

            “But we won’t hesitate to do so if you cause Harry even a moment of pain,” Fred said, a hard look coming to both twins’ faces.

            “And don’t think your experience as spies will help you any,” George said. “If we decide to go after you…”

            “…you won’t be getting away,” Fred finished.

            “Harry’s been through enough in his life. He doesn’t need you two playing with him,” Remus said.

            “We are not playing with him,” Severus said in a dark and deadly voice. “We have no intentions of ever letting Harry go.”

            “As long as he doesn’t want to go, that’s good,” Remus said. “But if either of you ever give him reason to want to leave, if you ever give him any reason to be unhappy, I’ll tear you apart.”

            “What’s going on here?”

*************************************

            In the kitchen, Harry apologized to Blaise for extending the open invitations to their guests without checking with him first.

            “Harry,” Blaise said, exasperated. “I appreciate that you want me to feel like this is my home too, but you don’t have to check with me over every little thing. It’s fine that you invited them over.”

            Harry grinned. “I’ll stop if you will.”

            Blaise gave a little laugh. “Okay, okay. I promise to start treating this place as my home.”

            “Good,” Harry said. “I had better go upstairs and see what the others are doing. There’s no telling what could happen with that group.”

            Blaise nodded and turned back to the dishes as Harry started up the stairs.

            When Harry opened the door to the library, he was shocked to see the threatening poses and expressions on Remus’, Fred’s and George’s faces.

            “What’s going on here?” he asked with a mixture of exasperation and disbelief.

            “Just the usual wizarding tradition, Harry,” Fred said easily.

            “Just letting your potential boyfriends know that your family cares about you,” George said.

            “And we won’t tolerate them hurting you or playing with your feelings,” Fred said.

            Harry gave them a small smile and blinked back tears at hearing them refer to themselves as his family.

            “Potential?” Severus asked with a fierce frown.

            “According to Harry, you haven’t even gone on one date,” Remus said. “That means you have yet to earn any title where Harry’s concerned.”

            The Slytherins exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing: they had certainly earned the title of Harry’s lovers. Unfortunately for them, the watching Gryffindors saw the look. Harry’s ‘family’ glared at them and Harry blushed.

            “I think it’s time to say goodnight and let Harry and Blaise get some rest,” Remus said pointedly.

            The Slytherins glared at him, but then turned to Harry. They couldn’t really complain because there _was_ a tradition in the wizarding world where potential suitors were treated a certain way by the family of the person being sought after. It was just that neither of them had any previous experience with the tradition. Severus had never been in a serious relationship before and Lucius and Narcissa had had an arranged marriage.

            Not that either man had any delusions that the three men looking out for Harry would have acted any differently if there _hadn’t_ been such a tradition.

            “Harry,” Lucius asked, “would you be free this weekend? Say Friday night?”

            Harry smiled. “Yes, I’m free.”

            “Would you be interested in going out with us for the evening? We thought perhaps we could take you to dinner and then to the Heartwood Gardens,” Severus said.

            Harry’s eyes widened at the mention of the Gardens. He had heard they were supposed to be incredibly romantic, especially at night. “That would be great,” he said, fighting off yet another blush. He really did need to work on that.

            “Wonderful,” Lucius said. “We’ll pick you up around, say, six?”

            Harry smiled again. “That’d be great,” he repeated.

            “Excellent,” Severus said. “We will see you then.”

            Both men moved forward as if to kiss Harry goodbye, but his ‘family’ move in and made it clear they would not tolerate it. The Slytherins shot them frustrated glares. Harry gave them a sheepish, apologetic smile.

            “Well, then,” Lucius said. “We will see you Friday, Harry.”

            “Until Friday,” Severus said.

            Harry watched the men disappear into the fireplace and then he turned to his remaining guests.

            “Harry,” Fred said, “are you sure this is what you want?”

            Harry blushed. He _really_ need to stop that. “Yes. This is what I want.”

            “Then you have our full support,” George said firmly.

            “We just want you to be happy, Harry,” Remus said. “After everything, you deserve to be happy.”

            “Thank you,” Harry said softly. “You know, it makes me happy having you three around,” he said with a smile. “So make sure you don’t forget you are invited over whenever you feel like dropping in!”

            The three men laughed and took turns hugging Harry before they too disappeared into the fireplace.

            Harry shook his head and decided to call it a night. He stopped by the kitchen to say goodnight to Blaise and then headed up to bed.


	12. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE:  
> Because Severus is gay, the whole Severus/Lily/James thing never happened. The only thing that Harry really had to deal with was the Slytherin/Gryffindor thing.
> 
> Also, this chapter contains smut!

Harry sighed as he settled down into bed. It was the first night since he and Blaise had moved in that he was sleeping alone. Early that morning they had finally finished cleaning Blaise’s room and had gotten the furniture moved in. They had finished just in time to go to a late lunch/early dinner with Remus.

Except that when Remus arrived he had not been alone. Harry sighed again as he rolled over. He had never expected to see Severus or Lucius again. He certainly never expected, never allowed himself to even hope, for an actual relationship with them.

Harry lay in bed and let his mind drift to the past.

It was in the middle of his fifth year when he started having private lessons with Severus. While Severus taught him Occlumency, Harry had used the time he spent in the dungeons to try to get to know the Slytherin students. He couldn’t believe that they were all on Voldemort’s side. After all, if Peter Pettigrew could be a Death Eater then Draco Malfoy could be against Voldemort.

Severus had been surprised, but he had supported Harry in his efforts to overcome the House rivalries. Dumbledore, too, had been impressed with Harry’s maturity on the topic and had encouraged him to continue in his efforts. Harry was grateful that they never realized his ability to overcome House rivalries stemmed in part from the crush he had developed on his Potions professor.

Ron and Hermione had had a hard time understanding Harry’s sudden change of heart. They had had several arguments on the subject. It had been bad enough that Ron and Hermione had been given different ‘duties’ within the Order. Looking back, Harry realized that he and his two ‘best friends’ had been drifting apart for a long time. He just hadn’t wanted it to be that way and had pretended it wasn’t happening.

In his sixth year, Harry had earned enough goodwill among the Slytherin students that he had started training with them. Ron and Hermione had flatly refused to train with the Slytherins and had argued that it was too dangerous for Harry to do so. Harry had simply ignored them for a week and then made sure to never talk about the issue whenever they were around.

It was also in his sixth year when Lucius had joined Severus in helping with Harry’s private lessons. Sometimes Harry would train with them both, but often he had trained with them individually. It had allowed him to get to know each man and Harry had liked what he found beneath their masks.

Harry had been having hot dreams about his Potions professor for months before that first dream of Lucius. Harry had woken from an incredibly erotic dream of the blond man sticky and extremely embarrassed. It was one thing to dream about his hot, _available_ professor. It was altogether a different thing to dream about a married man who also happened to be the father of one of his school mates.

Harry could handle having a crush on his professor and even, to some extent, a married man. They were both unattainable in their own way. But he had agonized over the fact that he liked them both. It hadn’t seemed fair of him, somehow, to have a crush on two men.

By the beginning of his seventh year, Harry couldn’t possibly choose between them. That was also around the time Harry had realized his feelings had gone beyond a schoolboy crush. He had managed to fall completely in love with both men. For the most part, he had worked much harder to deny his feelings for Lucius. After all, Lucius had a _wife_.

It hadn’t stopped him from trying to get them to notice him, though, or from trying to show them he was not a child, but a man. He had even, though he was well aware his efforts were so pathetic that neither man noticed, tried flirting with them.

It had also been at the beginning of his seventh year when the Slytherin students had surprised him by inviting him to a Slytherin House party where they had named him an ‘honorary’ Slytherin. It had been great. He had gone to all of the Slytherin House parties for the rest of the year. He had even skipped the Gryffindor graduation party to go to the Slytherin party.

Harry had felt a little guilty for that, but he _had_ intended to go to the Gryffindor party until Ron and Hermione had tried to guilt him into attending the party with Ginny as his date. He had never told them he was gay, which maybe should have been another clue that they had drifted apart. He had tried to tell them he didn’t think it was fair to invite Ginny as his date when he wasn’t-would _never_ be-interested in her. That had only led to yet another argument and Harry had just skipped the Gryffindor party and had gone down to the dungeons to the Slytherin party.

It was at the Slytherin graduation party that Harry had promised to throw a big party after the war was over and invite all of the Slytherins. It would be a victory/thank you party.

Harry winced and rolled over again. The party had been nothing like he had planned for them. He had wanted something big to show how much he appreciated the risks they had taken for him and the losses they had suffered on his behalf. Harry frowned. He would just have to make it up to them. Maybe another, much better, party on the year anniversary of the end of the war.

Harry felt a smile tugged at his lips as he thought of the party. It hadn’t been too bad in the end. Everyone had been laughing and dancing by the end of the night. Harry’s eyes drifted closed as he remembered the way the night had ended for him.

_Harry was dancing with Severus to a slow song as the last of the other guests left. It was still early, but as no one left alone, Harry decided it wasn’t entirely a comment on his poor party planning skills._

 _By the end of the song, only Harry, Severus and Lucius had remained. Harry didn’t want to leave, not when he had an opportunity to spend more time with the sexy older Slytherins._

 _Harry reluctantly stopped dancing and lifted his head from Severus’ shoulder. He blushed as he realized how close he had been to the other man during their dance._

 _“Harry,” Lucius said, coming to the middle of the dance floor where Harry and Severus had stopped dancing. “Severus and I were planning on returning to Malfoy Manor for some drinks. Would you care to join us?”_

 _Harry smiled. No way was he going to pass up a chance to spend time with them. “I’d love to.”_

 _Both men smiled at him. It made him shiver. Harry hoped they didn’t notice. They walked him to the fireplace, one on each side of him. They both lightly rested a hand on his lower back and Harry suppressed another shiver._

 _Even after years of training, Harry still had trouble traveling by Floo or portkey. Lucius went first and he caught Harry as he stumbled out of the fireplace at Malfoy Manor. Harry blushed again, but Lucius merely smiled down at him._

 _They moved to the study where Lucius poured them all drinks. Severus subtly guided Harry over to the sofa and sat beside him. Lucius handed them each a drink and then sat on Harry’s other side._

 _Harry’s heart beat faster with Severus and Lucius sitting so close to him. He took a sip of his drink in an effort to calm his nerves. He frantically searched his mind for something to say that wouldn’t make him sound like a complete idiot, but his mind was too filled with their closeness._

 _For a while, the three of them just sat and sipped their drinks. When Harry finished his drink, he turned the empty glass around and around in his hands. Severus reached over and took the glass out of Harry’s hand and put it on the coffee table along with his own._

 _Harry looked at Severus as the man turned towards him. Harry’s eyes went wide and his breathing quickened when Severus put a hand on his shoulder and slowly leaned closer. As Severus came closer to Harry, his hand slid across Harry’s shoulder and then up his neck until his hand was resting on the back of Harry’s neck. Harry felt a light pressure, urging him closer to the Slytherin._

 _Harry certainly didn’t need any more encouragement. He closed his eyes as he felt Severus’ breath on his lips. Harry almost moaned at the gentle press of Severus’ lips to his own. Their lips parted for a moment and then met again. Harry titled his head slightly and Severus took that as encouragement and he slowly deepened the kiss._

 _Harry gasped at the feel of Severus’ tongue flicking across his lips. He moaned when Severus took advantage of his gasp to slip his tongue into Harry’s mouth. As Severus’ tongue thoroughly explored Harry’s mouth, Harry hesitantly put a hand on Severus’ shoulder._

 _When Severus pulled back, Harry slowly opened his eyes to look at his former professor. Severus’ dark, dark eyes were staring at Harry intensely and he was panting softly, as was Harry. Severus slowly moved the hand from the back of Harry’s neck and stroked down his back._

 _Harry gasped and trembled when he felt Lucius press a kiss to the side of his neck and trail a hand down his side. Harry turned from Severus to face Lucius._

 _“Lucius?” Harry asked softly, confused._

 _Lucius leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly to Harry’s. Harry closed his eyes and gave a soft moan. He rested his hands on Lucius’ chest. But when Lucius attempted to deepen the kiss, Harry pulled back._

 _“Harry?” Lucius asked softly._

 _“I-” Harry bit his lip. “What about Narcissa?” he blurted out._

 _Lucius looked surprised. “Narcissa?” He smiled at Harry. “The divorce was final last month, Harry. I’m not married any longer.” Lucius leaned in and tried to kiss Harry again._

 _Again, Harry pulled back. “But…” Harry looked at Lucius, confused still. “I thought you were straight.”_

 _Lucius shook his head. “No. I’m gay. I’ve always been gay.”_

 _“Then why did you marry her?” Harry asked._

 _Lucius gave a sigh. “It was an arranged marriage, Harry.”_

 _“Yes, but…wizards can have children together. I was raised by muggles and I’ve figured out that much. Why not marry a wizard?” Harry asked._

 _Lucius sighed again. “I’m a pureblood, Harry. Centuries ago, when muggles were hunting witches, it became something of a status symbol to marry a witch. Eventually, it became something expected of all purebloods. To marry a wizard was considered too…common for a Malfoy. When my parents found out I was gay they immediately started searching for a witch for me to marry. Narcissa and I had been friends since we were children and…” Lucius shrugged._

 _“Oh,” Harry said, biting his lip._

 _“In pureblood families,” Severus whispered in Harry’s ear, “it can be as difficult to admit to being gay as it can be for muggles. For centuries, being gay was seen as being a disgrace to the family name, something pureblood families considered to be the greatest sin a person can commit.”_

 _“Oh,” Harry said again._

 _Lucius leaned close and this time, Harry let him kiss him. Harry parted his lips slightly, inviting Lucius’ tongue into his mouth. Harry shivered at the sexy sound Lucius made as he slipped his tongue inside._

 _Where Severus’ kiss was a slow, thorough exploration, a seduction, Lucius’ kiss was a claiming, a branding. Harry shivered and moaned. When the kiss ended and they pulled apart, Harry blushed under the fierce, almost triumphant look in Lucius’ blue eyes._

 _“What an adorable blush, Harry,” Lucius drawled as he lightly ran a finger down Harry’s cheek._

 _Harry blushed a deeper shade of red and turned his head. He found himself facing Severus._

 _“That is, indeed, a lovely blush, Harry,” Severus growled._

 _Harry couldn’t help it-he blushed even deeper and he lowered his head, trying to hide it. He felt both men move closer to him._

 _“Are you as innocent as your blush suggests, Harry?” Severus asked, his lips brushing Harry’s ear with the words._

 _Harry covered his face with his hands and made a sound of embarrassment. He felt the men move even closer until they were pressed against him._

 _“You can tell us, Harry,” Lucius said persuasively._

 _“Yes,” Harry mumbled through his hands. Severus and Lucius reached up and gently pried his hands away from his flaming face._

 _“You are a virgin?” Severus asked._

 _“Yes,” Harry said, looking down at his hands, each held by one of the sexy men pressed against him. At least he couldn’t possibly blush any more, he thought._

 _“What about kisses?” Lucius asked, pressing a kiss to Harry’s ear._

 _Harry cleared his throat. “I’ve kissed some girls,” he mumbled. He felt both men tense beside him._

 _“But you do like men?” Lucius asked._

 _“Yes,” Harry breathed. How could they think otherwise with how tight his jeans had become since they sat down beside him?_

 _“You like **us** , don’t you, Harry?” Severus purred in his ear._

 _“Yes,” Harry said, feeling another wave of heat flood his face._

 _“Come upstairs with us, Harry?” Lucius asked, kissing the side of Harry’s neck._

 _Harry’s breathing caught for a second and then started again, much faster than before. He made himself look at the two men sitting so close._

 _“You-? I mean, are you two…?” Harry couldn’t bring himself to ask out loud if they were a couple._

 _They both shook their heads._

 _“We’ve never been together before, Harry,” Lucius said. “And we’ve certainly never shared anyone.”_

 _“But if you come upstairs with us,” Severus said, “we can promise we will make losing your virginity the most incredible experience of your life.”_

 _Harry froze. It had to be a dream. This couldn’t really be happening to him. There was no way he was being offered a night with both of them._

 _“We promise you’ll have no regrets, Harry,” Lucius said._

 _Regrets?! How could he possibly regret losing his virginity to these two incredible, sexy men?!_

 _Harry gave them a shy smile and said, “I couldn’t imagine a better way to lose my virginity than to two experienced lovers.”_

 _Harry watched the lust flare in their eyes and then they both gave him predatory grins and stood, pulling him up with them and heading for the bedroom. Their progress was slow, impeded by the constant touching and kissing._

 _Harry was ready to cry with frustration by the time they made it to Lucius’ bedroom. They had kept the touches teasing and not a single item of clothing had been removed on the long trek up to the bedroom._

 _“Lucius! Severus!” Harry cried out as the bedroom door shut behind them, his voice filled with need._

 _The two older men gave lust filled chuckles._

 _“Don’t worry, Harry,” Lucius said huskily._

 _“We’re going to take good care of you tonight,” Severus said in a dark, velvety voice._

 _Harry gave a moan of need and reached for them, pulling them close. He pressed himself up against Lucius and shoved his hands into the long blond hair and kissed Lucius fiercely. He felt a surge of pleasure at the groan Lucius gave at his actions. Lucius wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled the younger man tightly against him._

 _When the kiss ended, Harry looked around for Severus. A sound drew his attention to the bed. Severus had pulled back the sheets and he was standing next to the bed placing a little jar on the bedside table._

 _Seeing Harry looking at him, Severus crossed the room. He slowly stripped off his outer robes as he walked towards Harry, dropping them carelessly on the floor just before he reached Harry’s side. Harry had only a moment to appreciate the sight of Severus in a dress shirt and trousers before Severus pulled Harry into his arms and kissed him._

 _Harry melted against Severus. He wrapped his arms around Severus’ neck and pressed close. Harry vaguely noticed that he was moving, that Severus’ hands weren’t the only ones roaming his body, but he was too caught up in the kiss he was sharing with Severus to pay attention to anything other than those lips pressed against his own, that tongue sliding against his._

 _When the kiss ended, Harry found himself lying in the middle of the big bed between Lucius and Severus. As he lay there panting, he realized Lucius and Severus had managed to remove his outer robes, his shirt and his socks and shoes. He felt the cool silk sheets against his bare back and shivered._

 _Lucius and Severus, barefoot and without their outer robes, ran their hands over Harry’s bare skin. Harry raised a hand to each of their chests, stroking down to their stomachs before trailing his fingertips up along the line of buttons on their dress shirts. Reaching the top button, Harry tugged on the button lightly and asked, “You aren’t planning on leaving these on the entire time, are you?”_

 _Both men raised an eyebrow at the slightly challenging tone to Harry’s question and raised a hand to begin unbuttoning their shirts. Rather than moving his hands out of the way, Harry popped open the top buttons he had been tugging on. He had no idea where he found the coordination to manage it, but Harry slowly moved his hands down Severus’ and Lucius’ chest unbuttoning their shirts at the same time. He teasingly caressed their chests with the backs of his fingers as he worked the buttons open._

 _By the time Harry reached the last button before the Slytherin’s belt buckles, he could tell they were having trouble holding still and letting him tease. Deciding to tease a little more, Harry pressed his fingertips against the skin bared by the open shirts and caressed his way back up. When he reached the center of their chests, rather than continuing up Harry moved his hands to the side. As both men had leaned over Harry to allow him better access to their shirt buttons, it was quite easy for Harry to stroke his palms over one of their nipples._

 _Lucius moaned and his eyes slid halfway closed. He leaned his head back slightly and pressed his chest more firmly into Harry’s touch. Severus gave a sexy growl and slid his hand across Harry’s stomach just above his jeans and then caressed up his side. At the same time, Severus leaned down and began kissing and nipping along the side of Harry’s neck._

 _Harry tilted his head to give Severus better access. He also moved his hand from Severus’ chest and pushed it into the older man’s dark, silky hair. Not wanting to leave Lucius out, Harry pressed his palm more firmly against Lucius’ nipple and rubbed. Enjoying the groan that caused, Harry moved his hand down so that he could stroke the nub with his fingertips._

 _Lucius leaned down to kiss Harry. He brought one hand to Harry’s chest and mimicked Harry’s touches. Growing bolder, Harry tried something that he always enjoyed when he was pleasuring himself. Lucius jerked his lips from Harry’s and gasped, “Fuck!” when Harry pinched and tugged on his nipple._

 _Lucius lust-filled gaze drifted down over Harry’s body as he quickly shrugged out of his shirt. Severus raised his head and raised an eyebrow at Lucius. “I think, Severus,”  
Lucius said, “that it is time for Harry to make a decision.”_

 _Harry looked back and forth between the two older men in confusion. “A decision?”_

 _Severus leaned up slightly and finished removing his shirt as he spoke. “We both intend to have you tonight, Harry, but which of us has you first is your decision.”_

 _“Oh,” Harry said, eyes widening. He looked between the two men uneasily. He knew who he wanted first, but he didn’t want anyone to be angry about his decision._

 _“No one will be upset over your decision, Harry,” Lucius said smoothly, stroking down Harry’s chest and pressing an open mouth kiss to his shoulder._

 _“And there are other firsts you can experience tonight,” Severus said in his dark voice. “Perhaps you could allow us each to be a first for you.”_

 _Harry looked between them again and took a deep breath. “I think…I think I want Severus to be the first to…” Harry trailed off, not able to finish. He blushed and then looked over at Lucius to see his reaction._

 _“If that’s what you want, Harry,” Lucius said. “Will you let me be a different first for you then? Unless you’ve simply forgotten to mention that you’ve used your mouth for more than just kissing girls?” Lucius stroked a fingertip across Harry’s bottom lip as he asked._

 _Harry’s eyes widened as he realized what Lucius was suggesting and then he grinned. “If you are both going to be a first for me, does that mean that I can have both firsts at the same time?” Harry greatly enjoyed the flare of heat he saw in both men’s eyes at his question._

 _Severus and Lucius leaned down at the same time to kiss Harry. They managed to press a kiss on the corner of Harry’s mouth nearest to them before they lifted their heads and glared at each other. Harry laughed, drawing their attention back to him._

 _“Where have those blushes gone to, Harry?” Lucius drawled, looking down at the smiling younger man._

 _Harry did his best not to blush as he deliberately wiggled between the two men and said, “I don’t think I have enough blood left above my waist to blush with.”_

 _Both Lucius’ brows rose and Severus snorted. Then Severus leaned down and took Harry’s lips in a kiss. Harry felt hands roaming his body and he tried to return the caresses. One hand briefly buried itself in Severus’ dark hair before moving down to grip a shoulder and then moving on to smooth down Severus’ back. The other hand stroked and caressed whatever part of Lucius’ body he could reach._

 _When Severus pulled back, Harry had only a few moments to pant for breath before Lucius was slipping his tongue into his mouth. Harry groaned and repeated the caresses he had given Severus when the dark haired man had been kissing him._

 _Distracted by the touches and the kisses, Harry was surprised to find, when there was a break in the kisses, that all three of them were naked. Harry panted as he let his eyes trail over the gorgeous bodies on either side of him._

 _Both Lucius and Severus were pale. Harry loved the contrast to his own tanned skin. Ever since hearing two Ravenclaws discussing the practice in his fifth year, Harry had made a regular habit of sunbathing nude. It hadn’t been easy with the celebrity status he had held during his years in school, but Harry had found it relaxing and a good way to deal with all of the stress he had been under._

 _Continuing to enjoy the sight of Lucius’ and Severus’ nude bodies, Harry notice that both men had lightly defined muscles and lean bodies. Lucius’ white-blond body hair was almost impossible to see, though Harry knew by touch that both men had no hair on their chests. He liked the smooth feel. Severus had a light dusting of hair on his legs and a delicious trail from his navel down…to… Harry swallowed and finally let his eyes drift to his lovers’ cocks._

 _Harry moaned. Both were long and thick and Harry had to touch. But as soon as he moaned, Lucius and Severus, who had been enjoying the sight of Harry’s body, moved in. Once again, Harry felt hands all over his body. His lovers passed his mouth back and forth between them before Severus began kissing and licking his way down the side of Harry’s neck._

 _Lucius was especially pleased to find that Harry’s nipples were sensitive and that he liked them played with. When he broke the kiss he was sharing with Harry so that they could breathe, he bent down and pressed his lips to Harry’s nipple. The brief kiss was quickly followed by a bite. Harry groaned and arched his back as Lucius tugged his nipple with his teeth and then licked it. Lucius teased and tormented one nipple with his hand, pinching and pulling with his fingers as his nipped and licked the other._

 _Severus skimmed down Harry’s chest and kissed his way across Harry’s stomach. His hands stroked Harry’s thighs with light, teasing touches. When Harry felt Severus stop and start sucking up a mark on his hip, he moaned and reached down and pushed one hand into Severus’ dark hair._

 _“Lucius! Severus!” Harry moaned. As much as he enjoyed what they were doing, he felt like he would explode soon if they didn’t do more._

 _Severus moved up Harry’s body and pressed his lips to Harry’s, slipping his tongue inside Harry’s eagerly parted lips, as Lucius began kissing his way down Harry’s body. When Lucius reached Harry’s stomach, he kissed his way to the hip opposite the one Severus had marked and then began to suck up his own mark. As Lucius was marking Harry, Severus ended the kiss he was sharing with Harry and, with a dark grin unlike anything Harry had ever seen on the man’s face before, Severus moved back down Harry’s body._

 _Harry had been waiting for the feel of one of his lover’s hands on his aching prick, but the first touch he felt wasn’t a hand, but two pairs of lips. Harry gasped as both Severus and Lucius dropped a kiss on the tip of his cock at the same time. He groaned and threw his head back as the two men kissed down each side of his straining erection. He pushed his hands into their hair and his legs moved restlessly until they were pinned down, one by each man._

 _Harry arched his back and groaned as the two men licked and nibble their way back up the sides of his cock. Severus pressed an open mouth kiss on the tip of Harry’s cock as Lucius leaned down and sucked one of Harry’s balls into his mouth and reached up with one hand to tease Harry‘s nipples. Harry gasped and then groaned and tried to spread his legs wider._

 _Severus slowly licked up the underside of Harry’s cock. Harry felt a light touch stroke across his entrance just as Severus took Harry’s cock into his mouth. Harry moaned at both sensations. The deeper Severus took Harry’s cock into his mouth the firmer the touch Harry felt at his entrance. As Severus swallowed around Harry’s cock in his throat, Harry felt a slick finger push inside him._

 _As the finger slid further inside him, Harry felt Severus swallow around his cock again before sucking as he slowly lifted his head. Harry was so focused what his lovers’ mouths were doing, he only vaguely noted the strange sensation of the finger invading him. As Severus began to bob his head as he sucked Harry, Harry felt the finger inside him slowly begin to thrust in and out._

 _Harry felt like he was drowning in pleasure. He could feel his orgasm building. But just as Harry thought he was going to come, the mouths on him disappeared. His eyes opened and he looked down at his lovers. He glared at the nearly identical raised eyebrow looks the two men gave him._

 _After a few moments the two Slytherins returned their mouths to their previous activities. Harry moaned and dropped his head back to the bed as a second finger pushed in beside the first. Harry found he liked the stretching sensation that came with the second finger entering him._

 _Harry was once again drifting in a sea of pleasure when suddenly he felt Lucius pull away._

 _“Severus,” Lucius said, sounding slightly annoyed, “that’s not the lube.”_

 _Severus pulled his mouth off of Harry’s cock and Harry lifted his head and frowned at the two men._

 _“I am aware of that, Lucius,” Severus said, as if speaking to an idiot. “You seem to have forgotten I am a Potions Master. Indeed, I was the one to make this pain relieving salve for you if you will remember. The substance is slick enough to work as lube and given Harry’s innocent state and the plans we have for the evening, I thought it to be a better choice.” Severus raised one eyebrow at Lucius._

 _Harry stared for a second before he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that he had to wipe away tears and he became short of breath. He had heard several of the guys he went to Hogwarts with tell of their first times with other guys and with girls as the guy preferred and not once had he ever heard anything like this happening to anyone else._

 _Harry had two incredibly sexy older men lying between his legs, one with two slick fingers inside him, and they were arguing over what to use as lube!_

 _When Harry finally caught his breath, he looked down at his lovers. Their glares had him snickering._

 _“Are you finished?” Lucius drawled._

 _Harry snickered again. “I was just about to ask you two the same thing.” Harry reached down and started pulling on Lucius, trying to get him to move up on the bed. “Besides, I was hoping to have two firsts at the same time, remember?” Harry grinned as the blond let him pull him up to the head of the bed._

 _As Lucius got comfortable at the head of the bed, leaning up against the headboard, Harry wiggled and managed to turn over onto his stomach without dislodging the fingers inside him. Lying between Lucius’ spread legs, Harry licked his lips as he looked at the hard cock in front of his face. He looked over his shoulder and asked Severus, “Is this okay?”_

 _Severus’ heated gaze drifted over Harry’s body. “Quite.” He lifted his eyes and Lucius silently handed him a large pillow._

 _Harry frowned until Severus’ hand on his hip encouraged him to rise up and Severus slipped the pillow under his hips. Harry moaned at the friction on his cock as he turned back to Lucius’ erection. Harry licked his lips and then leaned forward and licked a line from base to tip along the underside of Lucius’ cock. Lucius groaned and leaned his head back against the headboard. He pushed one hand into Harry’s hair, stroking Harry’s shoulder with the other._

 _As Severus continued to stretch him, Harry settled in to give his first blowjob. He tried to remember what he liked and what had felt good when Severus and Lucius had used their mouths on him. He licked and nibbled and, finally, sucked. Harry moaned at the feel of Lucius’ prick filling his mouth and sliding against his tongue. Lucius responded with a groan of his own._

 _Harry had settled into a rhythm, loving Lucius’ responses, when Severus pulled his fingers out, leaving Harry feeling empty. He pulled off of Lucius’ cock and looked over his shoulder at Severus._

 _Severus rubbed one hand up Harry’s back and said, “Try to relax, Harry.”_

 _Harry watched Severus line himself up and felt the head of Severus’ cock against his opening. Harry turned back to Lucius when he felt the hand in his hair move through his hair in a caress. Harry gave Lucius a small smile and pressed a kiss to the blond’s inner thigh as Severus pushed inside him._

 _Harry was grateful for Severus’ decision to use the pain relieving salve as lube. He knew from the few other guys who had admitted to being gay that his first time would be painful. From what he had heard, he was pretty sure the slight stinging and burning he was feeling was a lot less pain than he should have expected. There was still a moment when Harry winced and bit Lucius’ inner thigh, making the man jump, but it was also still a somewhat pleasurable feeling having Severus’ cock push inside him._

 _Harry felt Severus’ hips meet his own and breathed a small sigh. Trying to adjust, Harry clenched his inner muscles around the cock piercing him, drawing a groan from Severus. Harry grinned against Lucius’ thigh and pressed back against Severus. Severus groaned again and began slowly thrusting._

 _Harry threw his head back and moaned as he pushed back into Severus’ thrusts. Harry gasped when Severus adjusted his angle and hit something inside Harry that had his eyes rolling up in his head. Harry groaned as Severus thrust harder and faster. A hand on his shoulder reminded Harry that he hadn’t finished sucking Lucius off._

 _As Harry leaned down to take Lucius’ cock into his mouth again, the change in angle had Severus hitting **that** spot with nearly every thrust. Lucius groaned as Harry moaned around his cock._

 _Severus increased his pace and he reached around Harry’s hip to stroke his aching prick. Suddenly, Lucius gave a long drawn out groan and thrust up into Harry’s mouth. The pleasure of Harry’s almost constant moaning pushed Lucius over the edge. Harry drew back slightly and managed to swallow every pulse of Lucius’ orgasm._

 _Raising his head, Harry pushed back into Severus’ thrusts. He reached back and stroked a hand up Severus thigh as the man pounded into him. Harry didn’t last much longer with Severus’ cock hitting that spot inside him and Severus’ hand stroking his cock. Harry threw his head back and pushed back, **hard** , against Severus. He gave a hoarse shout and came all over Severus’ hand, the comforter beneath him and even Lucius’ calf and thigh._

 _A few more hard thrusts and then Severus leaned over and bit Harry’s shoulder as his cock pulsed in Harry’s ass. Harry panted under him and smiled at the tangled mess of limbs._

　

Harry gasped and jerked awake. He was panting and the sheets were sticky. He was disappointed to find himself alone until he recognized the redecorated master bedroom at Number 12. Harry groaned and covered his face with one hand. As he reached for his wand to perform a cleaning charm, Harry was extremely grateful that he had not had that particular dream while still sharing a bed with Blaise.


	13. Change in Plans

            Blaise dusted his hands together and looked around the room. He had spent the day getting some of his things from his mother’s house. The last few hours he had been trying to find room in his chosen bedroom for everything he had unpacked. He checked the time. Eleven-thirty. Blaise grinned. He wondered if Harry would be returning home tonight. He didn’t think it likely, unless one of Harry’s dates managed to really mess things up.

            Blaise started to grab some clothes for a shower, but his stomach let out a loud rumble reminding him that he had missed dinner. He grabbed some clothes anyway since he didn’t feel like coming back upstairs after he grabbed something to eat.

            Blaise grumbled under his breath as he finally reached the last set of stairs leading to the basement kitchen. His grumbling cut off as he caught sight of Harry sitting at the kitchen table with an empty Firewhisky bottle and another only half full bottle in front of him.

            “Harry?” Blaise asked in surprise. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?”

            Harry looked at Blaise and poured another glass of whisky. “Tell me, Blaise. How many hours have to pass from the time your dates were supposed to pick you up until you have been officially stood up?”

            Blaise’s eyes widened. “What? They never showed up?” Blaise had gone out of his way to not be around when Harry’s dates were supposed to arrive. He hadn’t wanted to intrude. And he had been in and out moving his things…He had not even noticed that Harry had never left for his date.

            “Nope,” Harry said, taking a large drink from the glass in front of him. “Didn’t show up, didn’t send an owl, nothing. Not from either of them.” Harry sniffled and then glared at his glass before taking another large drink from the glass.

            Blaise reached out and took the glass out of Harry’s hand. Harry was slurring his words quite a bit. “How long have you been drinking, Harry?”

            “Dunno. Started sometime between, mm, eight-thirty and nine? Maybe earlier.” Harry frowned and tried to take the glass back from Blaise.

            Blaise’s brows rose. Blaise poured out the whisky in the glass and put away the bottles. “Come on, Harry. I think you should take a potion to prevent a nasty hangover and then get in bed and try to get some sleep. Those two are too serious about you to do something like this without a good reason. I’m sure they’ll explain the next time you see them.”

            Blaise helped the inebriated Gryffindor up the stairs to the bathroom. After finding the hangover prevention for Harry, Blaise waited outside the bathroom while Harry took care of any before bed needs he had. Then he helped Harry up to the master bedroom and then into bed while trying to give reassuring answers to Harry’s teary questions.

            As Blaise went downstairs, he wondered what he should tell Harry’s ‘family.’ Remus, Fred and George would not be happy to find out about this and they’d be even more upset if it were hidden from them.

            Blaise was still considering the matter as he finished his shower and once again headed for the kitchen to get something to eat. He stopped and sighed as he heard the sounds of people Apparating into the library.

            He turned and headed for the library. He stopped just outside the partially opened door when he heard voices inside.

            “What do you mean you didn’t send an owl?” Lucius demanded.

            “As I said, I was dealing with an emergency. What of you, Lucius? I believe you said you did not send one either,” Severus returned coldly.

            Blaise heard a soft growl and then heard footsteps heading in his direction. Rather than wait for one of the occupants in the room to hit him with the door, he opened the door and walked into the room. He stood just inside the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and glared at the two older Slytherins.

            “It’s a bit late for visiting,” Blaise said coldly.

            After seeing how happy Harry had been all week over the upcoming date and then seeing how depressed he had been when his dates hadn’t shown up…Blaise was not in the mood to make anything easy for these two. Blaise had long since come to realize the depth of stupidity Harry’s former friends showed in betraying him and his own luck in becoming friends with Harry. He might have hesitated to face down two such dangerous men for anyone else, but this was Harry.

            Severus and Lucius glared at Blaise.

            “Where is Harry?” Lucius asked. “We-”

            “Asleep,” Blaise cut in. “If you want to talk to him you’ll have to come back at a decent hour.” He watched both men narrow their eyes at him. He raised an eyebrow when they both subtly reached for their wands. “Do you really want to do that? I mean, you know what Harry’s like when it comes to his friends.”

             Blaise nodded once when the men scowled but removed their hands from their wands. He glared at them for a moment and then said, “Do you know what Harry asked me just before heading up to bed? He asked how long after the time you arranged to pick him up did it become official that you two had stood him up. At least,” Blaise said casually, “I think that’s what he said. It was a bit hard to tell, given how much he had had to drink by that point.”

            Severus and Lucius both winced slightly. A small show of weakness for anyone else, but Blaise knew that was a huge effort for both of these men. As a fellow Slytherin, he took the sign for what it was-the closest thing to a sign of remorse anyone but Harry would be seeing. He stared at the two for a long moment and then relented slightly.

            “Be here for lunch tomorrow. I suggest you have both _very_ good reasons for not showing up or even owling as well as something to make it up to Harry. Fail on either count and I’m sure his family will be very interested in learning about the state Harry was in when you two never showed up…” Blaise trailed off with a significant look.

            The two men looked at him for a long moment and nodded their understanding. Lucius turned to Severus.

            “Perhaps we should discuss this matter. The study at the Manor?” Lucius said.

            Severus inclined his head and they both Apparated away. Blaise stared at the empty room for several moments considering his options. Finally he turned and headed up to bed. He was halfway up the staircase leading to the third floor when he stomach growled again, reminding him he had yet to get anything to eat. Blaise scowled and turned around, heading for the kitchen. He muttered under his breath all the way to the kitchen.

 

***********************************

 

            Harry opened his eyes and groaned. His eyes were dry and itchy and his mouth was dry. Rubbing his eyes with his fist, Harry lifted his head off his pillow and looked towards the door when Blaise called his name again.

            “I’m up,” Harry mumbled.

            “Hey, just thought you might want to get up and get a shower. We’re expecting guests for lunch,” Blaise said, ducking his head into the room.

            Harry frowned. He couldn’t remember anyone planning to come over. He opened his mouth to ask who was coming over, but Blaise had already left Harry to get dressed. Harry sighed and pushed the covers off. He winced when his bare feet hit the floor.

            Harry stumbled around his room, putting on enough clothes to make it to the bathroom and grabbing clean clothes to put on after his shower. As he put his jeans on the top of his dresser and opened his underwear drawer, Harry paused and reached up to rub his forehead.

            He couldn’t believe both Severus and Lucius had just not shown up. He took a deep breath and pushed away the disappointment and hurt. He was not going to wallow in self pity. He did enough of that last night after he realized Severus and Lucius weren’t going to show up.

            It was almost lunchtime, so half the day was gone, but he wanted to go out. He _needed_ to get out of the house. Pulling the last of his clothes out of the dresser, Harry wondered if Blaise would be up to heading into muggle London for a movie. Maybe they could eat dinner out tonight. Harry gave a small laugh as he realized it sounding like he was planning to take Blaise out on a traditional muggle date. _Well,_ Harry thought _, maybe it will make up for not going out last night._

            Slamming the last dresser drawer shut and grabbing his clothes, Harry turned and left his bedroom. As he reached the first floor and headed for the bathroom, he frowned. He was getting tired of having to come all the way to the first floor when he needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. He and Blaise had finished cleaning up the library the day before yesterday. Maybe instead of working on the sitting room next, he could talk Blaise into cleaning up their private bathrooms first.

            Harry made plans, both for going out and cleaning up, while getting his shower. After his shower, he went down the stairs to the kitchen, dressed but still barefoot. Running a hand through his hair, Harry opened the kitchen door and said, “Blaise, I was thinking-” Harry stopped as he caught sight of the two men sitting at the kitchen table.

            Severus and Lucius stopped glaring at Blaise and stood as soon as Harry walked into the room. “Harry-” both men said at once.

            Harry stopped in the doorway. He was tempted to bolt from the room as he wasn’t certain he wanted to speak to these two right now. However, he was put in Gryffindor for a reason. He took a deep breath and then moved into the room. As he stopped, standing across the table from Severus and Lucius, Harry made a show of checking the time and then he looked at them.   
             “You know,” Harry said casually, “I was expecting you two about…eighteen hours ago.”

            Both men grimaced at Harry’s words. “Harry-” they said together once more. After sharing a look, Lucius continued, “We regret that we were unable to be here last night when we promised.”

            “And we apologize,” Severus said with only a small wince, “for not even sending you an owl to let you know.”

            Harry just folded his arms across his chest. He was still too hurt to just accept their apology. “And was there a reason the two of you neither showed up nor owled me last night?”

            Lucius sighed and said, “Just as I was leaving my office at the Ministry, an alarm sounded and the entire Ministry was locked down. It seemed someone owled in a threat of some kind and no one was allowed to leave until the Aurors had finished searching the building. Even then, everyone was tested for Polyjuice, the Imperius charm, and a few others before being allowed to leave. While the building was locked down, no one was allowed to send out any owls either.”

            Harry frowned and turned his attention to Severus.

            “I had closed my shop early and, rather than work on any brewing, I decided to work on paperwork as I can get distracted while brewing or while answering customers’ questions,” Severus began after Lucius fell silent. “However, it seemed that some Aurors put the wrong address on a warrant and so I had a group of Aurors knock down the front door of my shop. By the time they realized their mistake, they had managed to knock over several shelves of potions. The combined potions began to give off fumes that could be quite deadly and I had to immediately set to work on cleaning up the mess before anyone was hurt.”

            Harry bit his lip and looked between the two men uncertainly. While those were acceptable excuses for missing their date, and it was easy enough to check their stories so he knew they weren’t lying, what were the odds of two such major events happening on the same day? Then again, he had seen enough in his life to know that sometimes things like that just happened. Especially when he was involved somehow.

            Seeing the uncertainty on Harry’s face, Severus continued, “We did show up last night to apologize, but it seems you had already gone to bed by the time we arrived.”

            “So we decided to come back today with apologies and …” Lucius said.

            “Something to make up for last night,” Severus said, pulling out a wrapped gift.

            Harry watched, wide-eyed, as the gift was set in the center of the table. Slowly, he lowered his arms and walked closer to the table. He looked up at Severus and Lucius before looking back at the gift. Hesitantly, he pulled the gift across the table towards him. When it was in front of him, he looked up at Severus and Lucius once more before finally unwrapping the gift.

            Harry broke out into a big, bright smile as he saw what Severus and Lucius had gotten for him. In the box was a mixture of Harry’s favorite sweets from Honeydukes. While not a big, expensive gift, it was perfect for Harry. Harry wasn’t the kind of person to enjoy extravagant gifts and he just knew Lucius especially had had to restrain himself. This gift not only showed that Lucius and Severus remembered what a sweet tooth he had, but they had remembered which sweets were his favorites.

            Harry looked up from his gift with a shy smile. “Thank you,” he said.

            Severus and Lucius had to suppress their desire to smirk as it became apparent that Harry had forgiven them. “Then perhaps tonight we might try again?” Severus asked silkily.

            Harry bit his lip as he looked down at the box of sweets in front of him. “Actually, Blaise and I already have plans for this evening.”

            The two men turned to glare at Blaise, who gave no indication that this was the first he had heard of any plans, for which Harry was grateful. He had been looking forward to the tentative plans he had been making for the day.

            And besides, last time he had spent the whole day excited and thinking about the upcoming date. Harry wanted to wake up happy and nervous about his date, not wake up hurt and disappointed.

            “But maybe tomorrow…?” Harry asked hesitantly.

            “Tomorrow I must work on brewing a potion. It must be used within two hours of completion and it will take me all day tomorrow and well into the evening to have it ready when I told the client it would be finished,” Severus said with a frown. “Perhaps Monday?”

            “Monday I have late meetings at the Ministry,” Lucius said, looking frustrated.

            The two shared a looked and then turned to Harry. “Perhaps…” they said together. They shared another look and then Lucius continued, “Harry, would you consider separate dates with us?”

            Harry scowled. “No. You wanted me to date both of you and I want both of you to be there for the first date. Maybe after we’ve established a relationship, but right now I want all three of us to go on dates and things. It’s important to me for all of us to be there. Especially on the first date.”

            “Of course, Harry,” Lucius said soothingly.

            “Perhaps Tuesday then? I know the Ministry is fairly slow on Tuesdays and I can close my shop for the day,” Severus said.

            Harry looked at Lucius hopefully. Lucius thought for a moment and then nodded. “I can go in early both Monday and Tuesday to make sure I will be free in plenty of time,” Lucius said.

            Harry grinned at the two men. “Great. So Tuesday night? Around six?”

            Both men smirked, but before they could respond the sound of feet on the stairs reached them and Harry turned to see who was coming into the kitchen. He was surprised when all three members of his ‘family’ came into the kitchen.

            “The open invitation…” Fred said.

            “Included lunch…” George said.

            “Didn’t it, Harry?” Remus finished, grinning at the look the twins shot him.

            Harry jumped to his feet. “Of course!” He grinned at them and, after hugging each, moved to the counter to start lunch. He paused as he was getting ingredients out and looked over his shoulder. “You’re staying too, aren’t you?” He asked Severus and Lucius.

            Both men nodded. Harry’s family turned to them and glared.

            “We were going to ask about your date last night…” George said.

            “But it seems we were able to catch the end of it,” Fred said.

            Harry turned around with a gasp as he realized what the twins were implying. “Fred! George! That’s not-! It isn’t-! I mean, we didn’t-!” Harry sputtered.

            “How _did_ your date go, Harry?” Remus asked as he glared at Severus and Lucius. The two Slytherins glared back.

            Harry took a deep breath and said, “Actually, Lucius and Severus had emergencies at work last night and we had to reschedule. They stopped by this afternoon to discuss when would be a good time for all of us.” With that, Harry turned back to the counter and set to preparing lunch.

            “And what’s this?” George asked.

            Harry looked over his shoulder again and saw his family looking at the box of sweets Lucius and Severus had gotten him. He smiled brightly at them. “Severus and Lucius brought that for me. For having to reschedule our date.” His smile widened. “They even remembered all of my favorites!”

            Seeing his family give Severus and Lucius grudging looks of approval, Harry turned back to preparing lunch with a smile on his face.

           

           


	14. Obstacles

            Lucius and Severus Apparated into the library at Grimmauld Place with grim expressions. They headed for the stairs to the basement kitchen, but changed direction when they heard voices floating through the slightly opened door to the sitting room. They stopped in the hallway as the words of the conversation became clear.

            “…again?” Blaise asked, disbelief in filling his voice.

            “Yep,” Harry said, voice as grim as the expressions on Severus’ and Lucius’ faces.

            “How many times is this now?” Blaise asked, disbelief still clear.

            “This makes it three times we’ve rescheduled our first date. And if we have to reschedule one more time, I’m changing my mind about dating them,” Harry said grimly.

            “But they’ve had good reasons, right? I mean, they haven’t just been standing you up. And after the first time, they’ve made sure to owl, right?” Blaise asked.

            “Yeah, they’ve owled. And I can’t blame Lucius for the emergency meeting at the Ministry or Severus for being called to St. Mungo’s, but if we can’t make time for _one_ date now when I’m free all the time, how are we going to have an actual relationship once I start university classes or when you and I start our restaurant?” Harry said.

            “Why are you so against going on separate dates?”

            Severus and Lucius heard a sigh. “Because I would feel like I was cheating on whoever wasn’t there. There’s no way I’d be able to really enjoy myself. Once we’ve established a relationship I don’t think I would feel that way, but we can’t seemed to manage a single date.” There was another sigh. “And I can’t keep getting my hopes up like this. No. The next time they cancel on me, I’m telling them I’ve changed my mind about dating them.”

            Severus’ and Lucius’ expressions became grimmer and they shared a look. They had come to apologize and talk about another day to schedule their date. They were getting just as frustrated as Harry with the obstacles they kept coming across.

            Harry’s ‘family’ were certainly not pleased either. Their grudging acceptance had turned into increasing hostility. They would definitely support Harry’s decision to change his mind about them and they wouldn’t hesitate to step in to keep Severus and Lucius away from Harry.

            Severus gestured with his hand and he and Lucius went down to the kitchen. After leaving the bouquet of flowers on the table with a note, the two men left wearing determined expressions. They would plan something extra special for Harry and nothing and no one was going to prevent them from making their date.

**************************************

            “Lucius, would you hurry up!” Severus growled as he paced the room.

            Lucius looked up from his desk and glared at his friend. “Would you rather we are interrupted on our date because I did not take care of this now?” he asked in a smooth, cold voice.

            Severus stopped his pacing to return Lucius’ glare. “I did not say stop, Lucius. I said _hurry up_.” They glared at each other for a few moments and then Lucius returned to the work on his desk and Severus resumed pacing. “I want to get there early tonight. I don’t want Harry to have a second of doubt about tonight’s date.”

            The two men were so focused on their upcoming date and the plans they had made for the evening they never noticed the dark shadow standing in the hallway just outside the office door.

***********************************

            Draco sighed as he Apparated into the entrance hall at Flower Lane. Ever since telling his father and Severus about Blaise and Harry moving in together, he had been staying with his mother. He definitely did not want to be home when the two men discovered the engagement.

            The past month had been difficult. Draco loved his mother and he was glad that having him around seemed to cheer her up, but she was still pushing him to start dating a nice witch and he missed Blaise so much it hurt. At least a dozen times he had considered coming out to his mother and then tracking Blaise down, but he just couldn’t do that to his mother. Not now, when she was still so depressed and trying to deal with her divorce.

            Draco started to head upstairs when he heard a strange sound coming from the sitting room. Frowning, he crossed the hall to the sitting room. He stopped just inside the room, frozen in shock.

            “What the hell?” Draco said, voice filled with disbelief.

            On the sitting room couch was his mother and Pansy Parkinson… _kissing_! All this time he thought that she was so upset about Father being gay and divorcing her. He worried about telling her he was gay because she was so depressed and she seemed to have her heart set on him finding a nice witch to marry, as if she didn’t want him to be gay like his father. And here she was kissing his best friend!

            At Draco’s softly spoken words the two women sprung apart guiltily. His mother’s eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. She looked terrified and Draco saw that Pansy looked worried and maybe a little afraid. He turned back to his mother.

            “Draco! Draco, I can explain!” Narcissa said.

            “You…you and Pansy…” Draco was completely stunned. His mother started talking, explaining, but all Draco could think of was Blaise. Without saying another word to his best friend or his mother, he spun on his heel and ran from the room. As soon as he reached the entrance hall he Apparated to Diagon Alley.

            Once he arrived in Diagon Alley, Draco paused for a moment. He didn’t actually know where to find Blaise. He knew Blaise was living in London with Harry, but he had no idea where they lived. Draco swallowed down the panic and pain that tried to choke him and he strode along the sidewalk his eyes darting around frantically, looking for Blaise and hoping the other man was in Diagon Alley.

            Not seeing Blaise anywhere, it occurred to Draco to ask the Weasley twins where Harry lived. He had seen them in the restaurant with Harry and Blaise. He quickly turned and headed in the direction of the Weasleys’ shop.

            Stepping into the shop, Draco felt a wave of relief rush through him when he saw Blaise standing at the counter with the Weasley twins and Professor Lupin. His panic retreated enough that he managed to sound fairly normal when he spoke.

            “Blaise, I need to speak with you.”

            The four men, who had seen Draco burst into the shop wearing a panic-stricken expression, shared a look. Blaise straightened from where he’d been leaning against the counter and said, “Okay.”

            Draco hesitated and then said, “In private?”

            Blaise looked at the three Gryffindors and then looked back to Draco and nodded. He followed Draco out of the store and stopped on the sidewalk in front of the store. “Draco?”

            “Perhaps we could go to Malfoy Manor and-?” Draco started.

            A hard look came to Blaise’s face. “I don’t think so, Draco. I thought I made it clear last time I wasn’t going to be your dirty little secret.” He turned and started to go back into the store, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He looked down at the hand and then up into Draco’s face.

            “Please, Blaise. I really do need to talk with you,” Draco said quietly, a hint of pain entering his voice.

            Blaise hesitated. He was not going back to Malfoy Manor. But Draco really did seem to want to talk. Number 12 was obviously out. He looked into the window of the shop and then back down at the hand on his arm. “Fine. We’ll go to Zabini Estate.” He looked up to see Draco nodding.

            Without another word, Blaise Apparated into the sitting room of his mother’s home. Draco arrived with him, his hand still holding Blaise’s arm. Blaise stepped back and looked at Draco expectantly.

            Draco launched himself at Blaise. He wrapped his arms around Blaise’s waist and kissed him desperately. Blaise was shocked, but he found himself responding automatically. His arms came up around Draco and he kissed him back. After a moment, he regained his senses and he broke away from the kiss and pushed Draco back. Blaise shook his head angrily.

            “I told you, Draco-” Blaise said.

            Draco stepped close again and again wrapped his arms around Blaise’s waist. He started explaining the situation with his mother in between dropping quick, desperate kisses all over Blaise’s face and neck.

            Blaise tried not to be distracted by the kisses as he listened to Draco. When Draco finished he turned and tried to kiss Blaise on the lips. Blaise leaned back and frowned at Draco. “What exactly does this mean, Draco? I mean, what does this change?”

            Draco swallowed hard and for once, despite the feeling of vulnerability filling him, decided not to put on his arrogant Malfoy mask. “It means…it means I love you and I don’t want you to marry Harry. I-I want you to marry me!” Seeing the shock and disbelief on Blaise’s face, Draco continued. “I want to marry you and have babies with you and-Please, Blaise! You can’t marry Harry!”

            Seeing Blaise start to shake his head, Draco pushed his hands into Blaise’s dark hair and pulled his head down and kissed him. He put everything he was feeling into the kiss, hoping that Blaise wouldn’t push him away again.

            Blaise’s arms came up around Draco and he kissed him back passionately. He held Draco tightly against him and kissed him hard. When the need for air became too much to ignore, he tore his mouth away from Draco’s and started kissing his neck. Blaise started pulling on Draco, leading him from the room.

            The trip up the stairs to Blaise’s bedroom was filled with kisses and roaming hands and panting breaths. As soon as the bedroom door was closed behind them they started tearing at each other’s clothes, shedding robes and shoes and socks. As soon as the shirts were gone and Blaise had his hands on bare skin he pushed Draco down onto his bed and fell on top of him.

            Pinning Draco to the bed with his body, Blaise kissed him again and again until Draco started making those sweet whimpering noises Blaise loved. Then he pulled back and looked down into Draco’s face. “Are you sure about this, Draco?” Blaise asked breathlessly.

            “Absolutely,” Draco replied. He pulled Blaise back down and kissed him.

            That was all Blaise needed to know. He devoured Draco’s mouth. They pushed and pulled at each other’s remaining clothes until there was nothing but bare skin and passion and hard kisses. Hands roamed and stroked and caressed.

            Blaise tore himself away and fumbled through the drawer in his nightstand, looking for the lube. They were both so on edge he knew they wouldn’t last long, but he was going to be inside Draco when they came. The preparation was quick and minimal, but Draco was too turned on to mind.

            It was quick and rough and everything they both needed. Draco was going to be sore and they’d both have a few bruises, but it was worth it. Every touch was demanding and possessive and the act was nothing less than a claiming.

            As they both lay there panting afterwards, Blaise’s weight pressing him into the bed, Draco felt something he’d not felt in a long time, if ever. He was content. “You’re mine and you’re not going back to Harry,” he said firmly as he played with Blaise’s hair.

            After he had caught his breath, Blaise leaned up on his arms and frowned down at Draco. “Draco, Harry is just a friend. I know what I said the last time we saw each other made it seem like there might be more to it than that, but-”

            Draco glared up at Blaise. “So your mother lied when she said you moved in with Harry? And my mother lied when she said you were engaged to Harry?”

            “Well, I did move in with Harry, but the engagement thing was a misunderstanding. I’m not sure how your mother heard about it, but it was just a joke that got out of hand. The Weasley twins were teasing us about moving in together.” Blaise leaned down and gave Draco a quick kiss. When he pulled back he looked at Draco for a long moment. “You really want to get married and have kids, Draco? With me?”

            “Of course,” Draco said arrogantly, all traces of his earlier vulnerability gone.  He gave Blaise a haughty look and then jerked him down and kissed him.

***********************************

            Later that night, as Remus, Fred and George helped Harry into bed the three men shared a dark look.

            Fred, George and Remus had showed up an hour before the Slytherins were expected and waited to see Harry off. They’d planned to give Severus and Lucius another warning for the way they’d been treating Harry. They were shocked when neither man showed up nor owled.

            They stayed with Harry until he fell asleep and then quietly slipped out of his bedroom. As they descended the stairs, Remus grimly said, “I think perhaps we should drop in on a couple of Slytherins tomorrow.”

            “We did warn them, didn’t we?” Fred said darkly.

            “So we did, Fred,” George said. “So we did.”

            Grim-faced, the three men went down to the kitchen to plan.


	15. Discoveries

            Harry woke filled with a now familiar sense of disappointment. He turned over in bed and sighed. As he stared up at his bedroom ceiling, he felt hurt and resignation mix with his disappointment. He had been completely serious when he told Blaise last night had been Severus and Lucius’ last chance. He wasn’t going to keep putting himself through this disappointment.

            Blinking back tears, Harry sat up in bed. He ran a hand over his face and then checked the time. He frowned when he realized how early it was, but then he remembered that, unlike the previous occasions when he’d been stood up or cancelled on, he hadn’t had anything to drink the night before. No, last night he’d moped and Remus and Fred and George had tried to cheer him up.

            Shaking his head, Harry stood and grabbed some clothes for a shower. He wasn’t going to think about Severus or Lucius. He was not going to wallow in self-pity. If he remembered correctly he’d done way too much of that last night. No, he was going to get a shower and eat breakfast and spend the day cleaning. Or maybe he’d go spend the day with the twins at the shop. Anything to keep his mind off the date that hadn’t happened. Again.

            After showering in his recently cleaned en suite bathroom, he wandered down to the kitchen to fix himself breakfast. He frowned as he went down to the kitchen. He hadn’t seen Blaise since yesterday morning. Harry stopped short and blinked when he opened the kitchen door.

            “Have you been here all night?” he asked.

            Fred, George and Remus looked at him from where they sat at the table. Remus gave him a little smile. “Would you believe we arrived just a few minutes ago hoping you’d fix us breakfast?”

            Harry gave him a little smile. “How does an omelet sound?”

            Remus’ smile disappeared. “Harry, I was just joking. You don’t really need to-”

            “Omelets it is,” Harry said, his smile getting a little bigger. He turned and started getting food out of the fridge. As he set everything on the counter, he looked over his shoulder with a little frown. “Have you seen Blaise? Last time I saw him was yesterday morning when he said he was going to Diagon Alley to get some more cleaning supplies.”

            “He stopped by the shop yesterday before going to get the supplies,” Fred said.

            “Then Draco Malfoy showed up looking panicked and insisting he had to speak to Blaise and they left together,” George said.

            “Draco?” Harry asked in surprise. He turned back to preparing breakfast wondering about Blaise and Draco. Had Draco finally come to his senses and realized how lucky he was to have such a great guy as Blaise?

***********************************

            Draco woke slowly. His eyes still closed he felt around on the bed for Blaise. His eyes opened and he glared around the room when he realized he was alone in bed. Looking around, he didn’t see Blaise in the bedroom and the bathroom was empty as well.

            Grumbling, Draco got out of bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom he went in search of Blaise. After peeking into the empty dining room, Draco checked the library, the sitting room and the study. Frowning, he headed towards the back of the house, wondering if perhaps Blaise was in the garden.

            He was almost to the back of the house when a sound caught his attention. He stopped and listened, hearing the sound again. Thinking he’d found Blaise, Draco followed the sound to a door. He wasn’t sure where the door led since he’d not noticed it before, but he shrugged and opened it.

            The door opened to reveal a dark stairway leading to what Draco assumed was the basement. Or the dungeon. The sound he’d heard was louder and obviously coming from downstairs. Draco pulled out his wand and cautiously descended the steps.

            Nearly an hour later, Draco was back on the first floor continuing his search for Blaise, feeling a little dazed. Finally, he found his missing lover in the kitchen cooking breakfast. The sight would have shocked him if not for what he’d found downstairs.

            Blaise turned to Draco with a smile on his face. The smile quickly disappeared when he caught sight of Draco’s expression. “Draco?”

            “Blaise, why are my father and Severus in your dungeon?”

            Blaise looked at Draco in shock. “What?”

            “My father and Severus are in your dungeon. I tried to get them out, but I couldn’t get the cell door open. They still have their wands but their spells have no effect outside the cell,” Draco said.

            “Well, no. Only someone with Zabini blood can open the cells in the dungeon and the cells have containment spells so that even if a prisoner managed to hide a wand or portkey on them they couldn’t use them,” Blaise said, turning off the stove and then wiping his hands on a dishtowel. His eyes suddenly widened as a thought occurred to him. “Did they say how long they’ve been in the dungeon? They were supposed to go on a date with Harry last night!”

            Draco opened his mouth to reply and then closed it quickly and frowned. “They were going on a date with Harry? As in _both_ of them at the same time?”

            Blaise shrugged as he walked out of the kitchen, Draco following him. “They both wanted to date Harry and Harry wanted to date both of them so…” Blaise shrugged again.

            “And how long have they been dating?” Draco asked with a frown.

            “Well, technically they aren’t dating yet. Not if they missed their date last night. And if they missed the date last night, I guess they won’t be dating at all unless they really make it up to Harry. This is the fourth time they’ve missed the first date with Harry.”

            As Blaise spoke, he and Draco walked through the house to the dungeon.

**********************************

            Severus cast yet another spell at the cell door.

            “Where is Draco?” Lucius demanded.

            Lucius and Severus had been surprised to find themselves in a dungeon cell last night and they were even more surprised when, hours after waking in the cell, Draco arrived and informed them they were in the dungeon at Zabini Estate.

            They had never been close to Victoria, unlike Narcissa, but neither man could think of why she would have kidnapped them. That it was her and not Blaise was obvious by the fact that they had been surprised at the Ministry. There was no way with their experience that Blaise could have captured them.

            “You do realize we will have a difficult time convincing Harry to forgive us for standing him up yet again,” Severus said in a deceptively calm voice. “And I’m certain we will have to deal with the twins and the werewolf before we are even able to speak to him.”

            “Fortunately we are dealing with Gryffindors,” Lucius said. “Mention we were captured and held prisoner and their sense of fair play will not allow them to hold this against us.”

            When they had arrived the night before, their focus had been on trying to figure out where they were, how they’d gotten there and on how to get out. As there were still a few people who held their pasts against them, they’d put other concerns aside and focused on their escape attempts.

            Now that they were no longer worried about being tortured and killed they could turn their attention to their missed date with Harry. After the conversation they’d overheard between Harry and Blaise, not to mention the increasing hostility of Harry’s family, they did not need this complication.

            Just as Lucius raised his wand to try another spell of his own on the door, the door opened. Blaise and Draco stood in the doorway staring at them.

            “How did you end up in here?” Blaise asked with a frown.

            “I suggest you ask your mother,” Lucius said coldly.

            “Where is Harry?” Severus demanded.

            Blaise shrugged and sighed. “I don’t know. Draco and I have been here since yesterday around noon.”

            Lucius looked at his son and raised an eyebrow. Draco gave him a slight glare. “Blaise and I are getting married, Father.” When Lucius’ eyebrow rose further, Draco’s glare intensified.

            “Why are you surprised, Lucius?” Severus asked impatiently. “Both you and Narcissa are gay. You even had me help you with the ritual usually used for two women to have a child so that you needn’t share a bed to get an heir.”

            Draco’s eyes widened and he stared at his father and godfather in disbelief. “You knew mother was gay?”

            Lucius frowned. “Of course. Why do you think we married?”

            Before Draco could respond, Severus cut in impatiently. “I suggest we be on our way, Lucius.” He glared at his friend.

            “We will discuss this later, Draco,” Lucius said before he and Severus hurried out of the dungeon, Draco staring after them.

            Blaise looked at Draco and said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m rather disturbed to know so much about my future in-laws’ sex life. Or lack of, I should say.”

            Draco grimaced. “I no more needed to know my parents had never had sex with each other than I needed to see my godfather coming out of my father’s bedroom the morning after the party.” He gave a shudder of disgust and tried to think of anything else. Turning to Blaise he said, “Were you _cooking_?”

************************************

            Lucius and Severus walked into the Weasley twins’ shop wearing grim expressions. Seeing the twins and Lupin at the counter, they walked over. They were not surprised when the three men glared as soon as they saw them. The way the light hit Lupin’s eyes and gave them a slight glow was unnerving when paired with the growl he gave as they approached.

            “Look who it is, Fred,” George said. He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to glare.

            “We were just talking about you,” Fred said.

            “Where’s Harry?” Severus asked coldly.

            The twins’ brows rose. “You expect us to tell you?” Fred said.

            “You won’t be going anywhere near Harry,” Remus growled. “You’ve hurt him enough. And I believe we warned you we would not tolerate anyone hurting our Harry.”

            “You can just go back to whatever it was you thought was so much more important than Harry last night,” George said.

            “We spent last night locked in a cell in a dungeon,” Lucius said coolly. “It was never our intention to hurt Harry. Indeed we’d every intention of arriving early last night.”

            “We were ambushed at the Ministry and we did not manage to escape until this morning,” Severus added.

            The three Gryffindors exchanged looks, but it didn’t seem they were ready to let go of their anger just yet. Remembering how distraught Harry had been last night, Fred glared and said, “Well, that explains where you were last night, but what about the time before that?”

            “Or the time before _that_?” George asked.

            “Or the time before that?” Remus growled.

            Severus’ lips thinned in displeasure and Lucius said smoothly, “We have been discussing that and Severus and I suspect the incidents that came up and prevented us from making our dates with Harry were not all accidents.”

            “Oh?” Remus demanded suspiciously.

            “If someone could ambush _us_ at the Ministry and remove our unconscious bodies without anyone noticing, it would be quite easy for that same person to change an address on a search warrant or arrange a lockdown at the Ministry,” Severus said.

            “Among other things,” Lucius added.

            The three Gryffindors exchanged looks again and then looked at the two Slytherins suspiciously. “And who might want to do that?” George asked.

            “For whatever reason, Victoria Zabini seems to object to our pursuing a relationship with Harry,” Lucius said blandly. The twins frowned and Remus grimaced. “Perhaps you could discuss the issue with her while we talk with Harry,” Lucius continued smoothly.

            “If you could tell us where he is?” Severus said darkly. “We went to Grimmauld Place and he was not at home.”

            With one last, long look Remus sighed and said, “You just missed him. He should be back at Number 12 now.” Then he glared. “But whatever your excuses you’ve both hurt him and you’ll make it up to him.”

            “If he lets you,” Fred and George said together.

            Lucius and Severus shared a look and Apparated away.

**************************************

            Harry was scrubbing the second floor hallway when he heard the sound of someone Apparating into the sitting room. He moved to the top of the stairs and looked down and frowned. When he saw Severus and Lucius come out into the hall his frown turned into a glare. They stopped as they caught sight of him glaring down at them.

            “Let me guess,” Harry said coldly, crossing his arms over his chest, “something important came up last night and you are terribly sorry to have missed our date, _again_ , and really you both _meant_ to at least owl me.”

            “Actually, we were ambushed at the Ministry. We spent last night locked in a dungeon,” Severus said.

            Harry dropped his arms, but continued to frown. “Are you hurt?”

            “No,” Lucius said, pleased Harry was moving away from anger and appeared concerned for them. “But we would like to make it up to you-”

            “No,” Harry snapped and crossed his arms over his chest again. “I think it’s time we accepted this just isn’t going to work.”

            “Harry,” Severus said with a frown.

            Harry shook his head. “No. I’m sorry you were attacked last night, but last night was the _fourth_ time we’ve tried to go on our _first_ date. We can’t even manage one date! The two of you seem to find time for each other, but you can’t seem to manage to find the time to share with me. And that’s while I’m not even working or going to school!”

            Suddenly, Harry’s shoulders slumped as the anger drained out of him. “I think it’s pretty clear what the two of you want and it isn’t me. Why don’t you just stop pretending and go be happy together.” Without waiting for a reply, Harry turned and walked away from the stairs, wiping furiously at his eyes.

            Lucius and Severus stared at the empty space where Harry had stood. They were stunned by Harry’s words. Hearing a sniffle from upstairs, both men frowned and started up the stairs. Reaching the top, they saw Harry had stopped and was leaning against the wall halfway down the hallway.

            “Harry,” Lucius said as the reached out and grabbed Harry’s shoulder. Harry stood up straight and jerked his shoulder away, turning his head to hide his tears.

            “What on earth gave you the idea we have any interest in each other at all?” Severus demanded, moving to stand right in front of Harry.

            Harry shrugged. “You have a lot in common and you’re a lot alike. You’re obviously very close and enjoy being around each other.” Harry shrugged again.

            “Of course we do, Harry,” Lucius said with a frown. “We are friends.”

            “Harry, had we felt anything more than friendship we would have gotten together long ago,” Severus said impatiently. “We certainly would not have waited until now and we certainly would not have pretended an interest in you. I’m no more interested in Lucius than I am in…Molly Weasley!” Severus said with a grimace and an impatient gesture.

            “When we asked you to date us, Harry, we intended for us both to be your…boyfriends,” Lucius said with a slight grimace. The word boyfriend just did not seem like something that should be applied to him and Severus, but the term would most clearly express to Harry what they intended. “However, while we would both be your boyfriends, we have only and would only ever see each other as friends. You are dating us and we are dating you. We are _not_ dating each other.”

            Harry sniffled and looked at them. They frowned fiercely at the tear streaks on his face. He looked back and forth between them with a slightly confused frown. “You really have no interest in each other?” he asked, confused.

            He understood what they were trying to say, but Harry had trouble believing anyone could not want these gorgeous, incredible men. They were both so attractive and, in his eyes, they fit together so well he found it difficult to believe they really were not the least bit interested in each other.

            “Not in the least,” Lucius said.

            At the same time, Severus said, “None at all.”

            Harry wiped his face and thought for a minute. Then he looked up at the two men in front of him with a glare. “Tomorrow night is your last chance. If you don’t show up for our date, I don’t care if it’s because Voldemort has come back again, I’m not giving you another chance.” Harry sniffled and looked down at his dirty clothes and the cleaning rag in his hand. “Now, I have some cleaning to do.”

            Severus and Lucius frowned and watched Harry walk away. It had never occurred to either of them that Harry might think they were interested in each other. They’d never been attracted to each other and it never occurred to them that anyone would think otherwise, much less that Harry would assume that’s why they were not showing up for their dates.

            “As much as I would like to deal with her myself, I think for now we will need to leave Victoria to the Gryffindors,” Lucius said.

            “And focus on making tomorrow perfect.” Severus nodded sharply. “In the meantime, however, we will need to remain on our guard.”

            “Agreed.”

            With a last look down the hall in the direction Harry went, the two Apparated away.

***********************************

            Hours later after a long, hot shower, Harry headed for the kitchen to fix dinner. He suspected that Fred, George and Remus would be stopping by and he was hoping Blaise would be home. He was tired of the thoughts swimming around in his head and he could definitely use a distraction to keep him from thinking about tomorrow.

            He was just wishing he’d thought to ask more about what had happened last night when he opened the door to the kitchen and saw Blaise leaning against a counter with his arms crossed over his chest. He was frowning at Draco who was standing in front of him with his hands on his hips, glaring at Blaise.

            “And here I thought you two had made up and that’s why you’ve been missing, Blaise,” Harry said as he came into the kitchen.

            Blaise dropped his arms and turned towards Harry. “Harry! Are you-how are you doing? I was going to come back earlier, but I thought you might want some privacy to…” Blaise trailed off and shrugged uncomfortably.

            Harry nodded and then smiled as Draco glared at him and wrapped his arms around Blaise’s waist. “Hello, Draco.”

            “Blaise and I are getting married,” Draco said firmly.

            “Draco!” Blaise said, frowning at Draco. “I told you we should probably wait,” he hissed.

            Harry smiled at his friend’s consideration. He was touched that Blaise would think of him, but he was also genuinely happy for him. Blaise was a great guy and he deserved to be happy. “Congratulations, Blaise!” Harry said with a grin.

            “Thanks, Harry,” Blaise said with a smile.

            Harry’s grin grew and he decided to tease Draco a little. “Well, I’m glad you finally got it together, Draco. I hope your father and godfather can do the same.”

            “Ugh, Potter, do you really need to remind me? I think I’ve been traumatized enough for one day when it comes to my parents’ sex lives,” Draco said, nose wrinkled in disgust.

            Harry gave Blaise a questioning look when he grimaced.

            “Draco’s father let it slip that he and Draco’s mother had never…they used a ritual to have an heir without…and that Draco’s mother was gay too,” Blaise said, stumbling over the words.

            “And he only told me that after I walk in on my mother and Pansy kissing,” Draco said annoyed.

            Harry’s eyes widened. “What?”

            Before Draco could say more, Fred, George and Remus came into the kitchen. Harry frowned when he noticed all three were unusually serious. Harry’s eyes widened when Fred and George hugged him and Remus dropped a kiss on the top of his head, all three doing so in a distracted manner. They barely even glanced at Harry, instead turning their attention to Blaise.

            “Blaise, would you happen to know where your mother is?” Remus asked.

            “What’s going on?” Harry asked with a frown.

            Blaise grimaced. “Draco found his father and Professor Snape in the dungeons at Zabini Estate this morning.”


End file.
